The Varsity Explorer

Join us on this unusual tour from Slough to Chester featuring the newly reopened section of The East-West line from Bicester to Bletchley. The added attraction is for the journey to be steam hauled by a restored main line approved steam locomotive that will see a steam train return to this section of line for the first time since 1967.

Our journey starts at Slough on the Great Western Railway main line which has good connections from London Paddington. We will make our way along Brunel's historic London to Bristol route through the Thames Valley, crossing the Thames at Maidenhead on the famous arched bridge. We will call at Reading to pick up passengers before continuing along the attractive Thames Valley through Pangbourne towards Didcot, where we leave the main line to Bristol and head northwards via Radley towards Oxford. It is at Oxford North Junction where we leave the Banbury line and join the reinstated Oxford to Bicester line, pausing at Oxford Parkway to pick up further passengers. 

We now follow the 'Varsity Line', originally opened as a through route to serve the University cities of Oxford and Cambridge but was closed in 1967 to passenger services. The aim is to reopen the entire route from Oxford to Cambridge in stages as the East West Rail project. The section from Bedford to Bletchley will also see a major upgrade, with Cambridge the ultimate goal some years ahead. The section to Bicester reopened in 2016 and a new station was built at Bicester Village, where we will call today to pick up passengers for our steam hauled journey to Chester. We will now traverse the newly opened section from Bicester to Bletchley and pass through its new station midway at Winslow. At Bletchley, our train will use the impressive reconstructed box section Bletchley Flyover that crosses over the West Coast Main Line to gain access to a new station at Bletchley High Level. 

Our day is not over yet as we now make a fast run down the WCML towards Milton Keynes, where we will call to pick up passengers. A final stop to pick up passengers is made at Rugby before we continue our fast running along the Trent Valley towards Stafford and Crewe. Water will be taken at Crewe before we head westwards towards Chester, our destination for today. 

There will be time to explore the Roman city of Chester, one of the most visited places in the UK. Chester lies on the river Dee, close to the border with Wales, and is one of the best preserved walled cities in Britain. The city contains a number of medieval buildings and is famous for its 14th Century ‘Rows’, the first-floor level galleried walkways connecting shops and cafes. Other places of interest include the Castle, the Cathedral, and the picturesque racecourse, which is located between the city walls and the river Dee. Our special train, leaves Chester diesel hauled late afternoon for the return journey via the new Bletchley to Bicester line to Slough. We stop at the same stations as on the outward journey to set down passengers.

On Board Catering