THE last of the track has now been laid on the new Oxford to London railway line, with less than 100 days until the first service leaves Oxford Parkway.

The £320m project has seen an army of workers transform the old branch line over a 17-month period.

The line, connecting Bicester Village and Oxford Parkway to London Marylebone, will reduce journey times to the capital to about an hour.

Network Rail’s senior programme manager Andy Milne said: “The completion of track laying is a significant milestone for the project and will allow Chiltern Railways to run its new service from Oxford Parkway. It is also a real step forward in reconnecting the railway from Oxford and Bicester towards Bletchley, Milton Keynes and Bedford.”

An extra eight-and-a-half miles of track have been laid, turning the old 20 to 40mph branch line into two tracks allowing trains to run at 100mph.

Once open, fast trains between Bicester Village and Oxford Parkway will also run twice on the hour.

The first train will leave Oxford Parkway on Monday, October 26, and arrive in London in 56 minutes.

Chiltern Railways managing director Rob Brighouse said: “We’re starting the official countdown to the launch of this historic project.

“I’m delighted we can celebrate this with the news that the track is now laid.

“It will be the first new rail link between a major British city and London for more than 100 years.”