Aynho Junction

Aynho Junction: Track Layout
Legend Chiltern Main Line Banbury freight loop Chiltern Main Line Bicester North Cherwell Valley Line Oxford

Aynho Junction is a railway junction in Northamptonshire, England, a few miles south of Banbury. The junction is a flying junction, with the down line from Bicester North grade separated from the up and down lines from Oxford. The junction is the point where the Great Western Railway's New North Main Line of 1910 ends. This line is also known as the Bicester cut-off line. Until closure by British Railways in 1963 Aynho Park railway station stood close to the junction on the new line. On the old line Aynho for Deddington railway station was closed the following year.

Train services

Today it is the point where Chiltern Railways' services to Birmingham Snow Hill join the same route used by First Great Western's services to Banbury, CrossCountry services between Reading and Birmingham New Street and freight traffic.

Signalling

Until the resignalling scheme in 1992, which transferred control to Banbury South signal box, the junction was controlled by Aynho Junction signal box. This was located between the down lines from Oxford and Bicester North. The signal box was decommissioned in 1992 and eventually demolished ten years later.

As part of Chiltern's Evergreen 3, the junction was relaid and upgraded for higher speeds and a new panel was fitted to Banbury South signal box.

Planned upgrade

In January 2015 a £40m contract was signed between Siemens Rail Automation and Network Rail to renew the signalling in the Banbury area. The work involves developing a new layout at Banbury and new signalling in the area, including Ayhno.

The Aynho/Banbury/Leamington area will be controlled from a new workstation at West Midlands Signalling centre in Birmingham, via a Trackguard Westlock computer-based interlocking.