Bicester enjoys fast motorway and dual-carriageway road links. It is easy to get to London, Birmingham or Coventry on the M40 or Oxford, Newbury, Southampton on the A34. And Milton Keynes, Northampton, Aylesbury, High Wycombe, Reading, Swindon and Cheltenham are all in easy reach. We are exceptionally well located in Bicester!
All train services through Bicester are operated by Chiltern Railways. Bicester has regular trains to London Marylebone (typically 4 per hour). However the service is split between the two stations at Bicester North and Bicester Village. The fastest trains to London take just 46 minutes non-stop. Tickets can be used to or from either station.
There are 2 trains each hour to Banbury from Bicester North, one of which continues to Birmingham (Moor Street and Snow Hill) via Leamington Spa and Solihull. There are a few direct trains which run to Stourbridge, Kidderminster or Stratford on Avon.
A change at Banbury gives an additional hourly train service to Birmingham Moor Street (Chiltern Railways). Or you can connect with Cross-Country trains to Coventry, Birmingham International (for Birmingham Airport), Birmingham New Street, Manchester Piccadilly, Derby, Sheffield, Leeds, York, Newcastle etc.
Two trains per hour serve Oxford; the fastest takes only 14 minutes. There are connections at Oxford for Reading, Southampton, Bournemouth and also to Worcester and Hereford.
The S5 bus between Bicester and Oxford typically takes 38 minutes. There are 4 buses per hour. The X5 express coach service (2 per hour) links Cambridge with Oxford stopping in Bicester and takes 30 minutes to Oxford. The X5 also serves Buckingham, Milton Keynes (60 minutes), Bedford, St Neots and Cambridge (3hr 10min).
Many other journey possibilities exist with connections at Oxford or Milton Keynes. For example, there are regular coach links to Heathrow and Gatwick airports (from Gloucester Green, Oxford) or Luton Airport (via Milton Keynes).
The East-West Railway line between Bicester, Winslow and Bletchley is also due to reopen – now likely to be in 2023 or 2024. When this happens there will be a further 2 trains per hour to Oxford and Reading from Bicester Village station and 1 train hourly to each of Milton Keynes and Bedford. This will complete the East West Rail Western Section.
The Central Section will create a new railway linking Bedford and Cambridge. The original route closed 50 years ago in 1967 but, unlike the Western Section, the former trackbed has been lost in several places and reinstatement is more difficult. A completely new route will be required.
The Cherwell Life 