Cherwell Valley line

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The Cherwell Valley Line is the railway line from Didcot to Banbury via Oxford. It links the Great Western Main Line and the south to the Chiltern Main Line and the Midlands. The line follows the River Cherwell for much of its route. The local service between Oxford and Banbury has been branded the Oxford Canal Line by First Great Western.

The towns and villages served by the routes are listed below.

Banbury previously known as Banbury Bridge Street
King's Sutton
Former station at Aynho
Former station at Fritwell & Somerton
Heyford previously known as Lower Heyford
Tackley
Former station at Bletchingdon previously known as Kidlington
Former station at Kidlington previously known as Woodstock Road
Former station at Wolvercote
Oxford
Former station at Hinksey
Former station at Abingdon Road
Radley
Former station at Abingdon Junction
Culham
Appleford-on-Thames
Didcot Parkway

Tilting

With the exception of the West Coast Mainline, this route is the only route that domestic UK trains can tilt on, something that Virgin Cross Country took advantage of on trains from the WCML to Reading and beyond, utilising "Super Voyagers," that can tilt. ^[1]

However, the new operator, Arriva CrossCountry, does not run much on the WCML, and as it is not worth turning the tilt mechanism on for the short stretch of the Cherwell Valley line, it is not used. Many Supervoyagers have been sent to Virgin West Coast for this reason (they are used for non electrified extensions of the WCML- utilising their tilt ability), and the majority of the service on this line is now given by standard non tilt Voyagers. This is a shame for passengers, because journeys are quicker when trains can go round bends at speed.