Proposed Wantage and Grove Railway Station - Development Status

Proposed Wantage and Grove railway station - development status update

October 2026

A Strategic Outline Case commissioned by Oxfordshire County Council has identified a strong strategic case for a potential new Wantage and Grove railway station but also identified operational, infrastructure, cost and deliverability uncertainties. A preferred station location and train service option have not yet been determined. The Council is undertaking further work on the project with the rail industry, expected to conclude in spring 2027, that will inform its decision on proceeding to the next business case stage.

An SOC is the first stage in the Department for Transport’s (DfT) business case process. It examines the case for a scheme and the potential options for delivering it. Two later stages develop and refine a preferred station option, its design, its train services, and how it could be funded and delivered.

The strategic case for Wantage and Grove station

The strategic case for the station is based on continued population growth in the Wantage and Grove area, its location in the Science Vale economy, and the relatively poor access to the existing National Rail network, despite the area’s proximity to the Great Western Main Line (GWML).

What the Strategic Outline Case tells us

The SOC has looked at ten station location options, six on the GWML 4-track section between the A338 and Denchworth Road bridges, and four on the 2-track section east of the A338 towards Didcot (the easternmost two lie south of the proposed White Horse Reservoir).

The options would result in different potential train services, passenger demand and revenue, station, track and signalling designs, capital costs, as well as different access implications from Wantage and Grove.

Passenger train options considered to serve a Wantage and Grove station include extending existing local/regional services such as Banbury-Oxford-Didcot and Paddington-Didcot, and/or adding calls in longer distance ‘inter-city’ trains.

Depending on its location and which services call, the SOC estimates that the station could attract from around 400 to 1,400 passengers per day, more with new housing, cover operating costs and offer value for money against a base £44m capital cost. As such the SOC provides a positive strategic case for the station and its ongoing casemaking. However, key infrastructure additions, particularly if the station is located in the 4-track section, could raise capital costs to between £62m-£86m. Furthermore, land costs would need to be assessed and added once a site preference is made. These additions may place significant pressure on the financial business case.

Constraints

The GWML is heavily used by country-wide passenger and freight services. It has complex track layouts, and there may be opportunities and challenges generated by Thames Water’s evolving White Horse Reservoir proposal, just east of Grove and north of the GWML. These make Wantage and Grove station a significantly ‘more-than-usually’ complex new station proposition.

Whilst supportive of the station concept in principle, the rail industry has no current plans enabling trains to call at a Wantage and Grove Station. It is also noted that Network Rail has recently published its concerns that the Swindon-Didcot route is ‘likely congested infrastructure’, which adds to the station scheme’s complexity.

Post-SOC work and next steps

The Council is continuing to work with the rail industry to assess and understand in more detail the wider capacity and operational issues on the Great Western Main Line and how these could affect or support the feasibility of a new Wantage and Grove station, including its train service and site location options and their commercial viability. This work is anticipated to be completed in spring 2027 and will inform the Council’s decision on committing to the next business case stage.

The Council is continuing to engage with Thames Water to ensure its White Horse Reservoir proposals do not prevent delivery of a new Wantage and Grove station and to identify whether there can be station location and relevant infrastructure opportunities associated with their scheme.

Wantage and Grove station location option diagrams

Figures 1 to 5 shown below illustrate the following in schematic form:

• Figure 1 - The GWML layout between the Challow-A338 4-track section and Didcot Parkway
• Figure 2 - The range of station location options considered in the SOC
• Figure 3 - Indicative station location on the 2-track ‘Main Lines’ east of the A338 bridge
• Figure 4 - Indicative station location on the ‘Relief Lines’ in the 4-track section west of the A338 bridge
• Figure 5 - Indicative station location on the ‘Main Lines’ in the 4-track section west of the A338 bridge

The figures are indicative only and are not to scale; their ‘UP’ direction is towards Didcot/Paddington and their ‘DOWN’ direction is towards Swindon/Bristol/South Wales.

The Main Lines are the principal GWML 125mph lines. The Relief Lines have a maximum line speed of 40-60mph and provide capacity for freight services to move off the main lines to allow faster passenger trains to pass.

• View station location options and diagrams in theWantage and Grove Development update (pdf format, 800KB)

Figure 1: Great Western Main Line existing 2-track/4-track layout near Wantage and GroveFigure 2: Station locations considered within Strategic Outline Case

Wantage and Grove station location options shown below use the following key:

Key for figures 3 to 5Figure 3: Station if located on ‘Main Lines’ in 2-track section east of A338 (e.g. Option H in Figure 2)

Figure 4: Station if located on ‘Relief Lines’ in 4-track section (e.g. Option C in Figure 2)

Relief Lines shown extended east (as recommended by Network Rail’s Oxfordshire Rail Corridor Study (ORCS), 2022).

Figure 5: Station if located on ‘Main Lines’ in 4-track section (with realigned Relief Lines, e.g. Option J in Figure 2)