double track has been constructed joining the Oxford to Bicester Line at Bicester Village to the Chiltern line, allowing a new Oxford to London Marylebone service to operate, calling at Bicester Village and High Wycombe. The track between Wolvercote Tunnel (on the outskirts of Oxford) and Bicester Village has been rebuilt and a new station constructed at Water Eaton, named . The scheme includes additional platforms at Bicester, Islip and Oxford. The Oxford line was re-opened in stages during 2015 and 2016, with services from London Marylebone to Oxford Parkway commencing in October 2015, and services through to Oxford starting on 11 December 2016. The delay to the full service was due to works in the Wolvercote tunnel, which were specifically scheduled to minimise disruption to roosting bats. The upgraded track has two bi-directional tracks and headroom in the tunnel for overhead electrification to be installed at a later date. Main Line upgrade The second part of the project upgraded the line to running on more of track, with junctions at Neasden, Northolt and Aynho rebuilt to permit higher speeds. The 'up' through track was restored at Princes Risborough and signalled for bidirectional use, the existing 'up' line becoming a bidirectional platform loop. A new turnback siding was provided at Gerrards Cross and a new 'down' through track built from Northolt Junction to Ruislip Gardens, running alongside the 'up' line to the east of the waste transfer station; the 'down' line will continue to serve South Ruislip. Speed restrictions through Bicester North were raised to permit running, with a new 'up' alignment and platform. Two of the original terminal platforms at Birmingham Moor Street were reopened for Chiltern services in December 2010. Accelerated services started in September 2011, after being postponed due to concerns about whether the works would be completed in time. Thanks to the speed increases, journey times have been reduced significantly. From Marylebone, the fastest journey time to Birmingham Moor Street is now 94 minutes instead of 117 minutes. The table below outlines the originally proposed peak timetable improvements as indicated by Network Rail. This compares to roughly 85 minutes for the fastest Euston- trains via the West Coast Main Line. Chiltern Railways chairman Adrian Shooter said, "This is the biggest passenger rail project for several generations not to call on the taxpayer for support. Working closely with Network Rail, we are going to create a new