A county study puts a Wantage and Grove station at 400 to 1,400 passengers a day and £44m to £86m to build. No site is chosen; the next call is in spring 2027.

A new railway station for Wantage and Grove could attract between 400 and 1,400 passengers a day, a study for Oxfordshire County Council has found. It would cost £44m to build on the base estimate, and up to £86m if extra track work is needed.

The council announced the findings on 22 October. The study is a strategic outline case, the first of three business case stages the Department for Transport requires for a new station. The council’s own summary, published with the announcement, says it found “a strong strategic case” but also “operational, infrastructure, cost and deliverability uncertainties”.

No site and no train service have been chosen. The council will decide in spring 2027 whether to move to the next stage.

What the study found

The council’s development status update, dated October 2026, summarises the work by consultants SLC Rail.

  • Passengers: around 400 to 1,400 a day, depending on where the station is and which trains stop. New housing would push that higher.
  • Cost: a base capital cost of £44m, against which the station could cover its running costs and offer value for money.
  • The catch: extra infrastructure, particularly on the four-track section, could raise the cost to between £62m and £86m. Land would be on top, once a site is picked. The council says these additions “may place significant pressure on the financial business case”.
Bar chart of the Wantage and Grove station capital cost estimates: £44m base cost, rising to between £62m and £86m with extra track work, before land costs.
The base cost nearly doubles at the top of the range. Source: Oxfordshire County Council development status update, October 2026. Chart by Abingdon Online
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Ten possible sites

The study looked at ten locations on the Great Western Main Line near Grove:

  • six on the four-track section between the A338 and Denchworth Road bridges
  • four on the two-track section east of the A338, towards Didcot

The two easternmost sites lie south of the proposed White Horse Reservoir.

Three types of train service were considered:

  • extending the existing Banbury to Oxford to Didcot trains
  • extending the Paddington to Didcot trains
  • adding stops to longer-distance intercity trains

The obstacles

The summary is frank about why this is harder than most new stations. It calls Wantage and Grove “a significantly ‘more-than-usually’ complex new station proposition”. The reasons it gives:

  • The line is busy. Network Rail has recently said the Swindon to Didcot section is “likely congested infrastructure”.
  • The rail industry has no current plans that would let trains call at a Wantage and Grove station, though it supports the idea in principle.
  • The reservoir. Thames Water’s White Horse Reservoir would sit just east of Grove and north of the railway. The council says it is talking to Thames Water so the reservoir does not block a station. It is also asking whether the reservoir scheme could open up a site or shared infrastructure.

The council is now working with the rail industry on the main line’s capacity. It expects to finish in spring 2027, and that work will decide whether it commits to the next business case stage.

What was said

Councillor Gareth Epps, the county council’s cabinet member for transport, said the report “has shown what we and many others believed to be the case, that Wantage and Grove is ripe for rail investment and justifies our calls for a station”.

Andy Holding, founder of the Wantage & Grove Station Supporters Group, said: “We must keep pushing for the reopening of Wantage and Grove Station, especially with the continuing growth in the area with the population and businesses being attracted to the area.”

Where the money is

The county’s cabinet approved around £20m of rail spending on Tuesday 20 October, the council says. Its cabinet paper lists Wantage and Grove among the station projects being worked on. Work already done includes timetable feasibility for the main options and checking where the reservoir’s planning boundary limits possible sites.

The paper’s £10m Enterprise Zone spending table has no separate line for Wantage and Grove. Closer to Abingdon, the same table sets aside:

  • £50,000 in 2027/28 for a study of improvements at Culham station
  • about £1.1m across two years for three projects at Didcot Parkway: a study of the main concourse, more public transport capacity on the forecourt, and a regenerative pilot

A station first opened here in 1846, the council says, and no trains have stopped since 1964.

What it means for you

  • Nothing is being built yet. This is the first of three business case stages, and the council will not decide on the second until spring 2027.
  • For now, Didcot Parkway remains the nearest station with direct trains to London. Our trains to London page compares it with Radley and Culham.
  • Watch the reservoir. Where Thames Water draws its boundary could rule some station sites in or out. Our report on the reservoir’s construction access explains that scheme.
  • The full study is due online this month. The council says it will publish it on its new rail webpage. The page was not yet live on 23 October.

Sources