CHILTERN Railways is expecting hundreds rather than thousands of extra passengers at Oxford Parkway when three key routes out of the city close from tomorrow.

Concerns had been raised the station would be over-run as it will provide the only remaining direct route from the city to London but the rail operator was confident it could manage.

Longer trains, and more buses between Oxford and Oxford Parkway, have been introduced to deal with the expected influx.

Communications manager Nicola Clark said: "We have had discussions with Great Western Railway and we expect the number of extra passengers to be in the hundreds rather than the thousands.

"We have 900 extra spaces available on our trains compared to a normal day and when it comes to parking we have plenty of space with the Park and Ride next door."

From tomorrow, routes linking Oxford to Didcot Parkway, Banbury and Hanborough will all be closed in the coming weeks as a number of improvements are carried out at the same time.

Great Western Railway tickets will be valid on Oxford Parkway services and the connecting bus from Oxford station encouraging passengers to flock to the station north of Oxford

Ms Clark said discussions with Oxford Bus Company, which operates the 500 between Oxford station and Oxford Parkway, had led to more buses running at peak times.

Work to raise the tracks at Hinksey to protect against flooding will close the railway between Oxford and Didcot Parkway from tomorrow until Saturday August 14.

At the same time from this weekend until Sunday, August 7 the line between Oxford and Banbury will be closed for a week for signalling improvements and bridge repairs will shut the railway between Oxford and Hanborough for five days from Wednesday, August 3.

It comes as official figures yesterday revealed more than 20 per cent of commuters into London Paddington each day are forced to stand on trains due to overcrowding.

One-fifth of passengers on morning peak time trains have to stand and 24 per cent of passengers coming home between 5pm and 6pm are left standing, according to Department for Transport figures.