ALMOST one million passengers have passed through the barriers at Bicester Village Station in the six months since the new line to Oxford Station opened.

The number of passengers travelling to and from Bicester Village has nearly doubled in the same period following the new high speed connection from Oxford city centre through to London Marylebone.

The latest figures released by Chiltern Railways revealed that one million passengers had travelled to and from Bicester Village between October 2015 – when the station reopened following a complete rebuilt and was linked to Oxford Parkway – and last December.

A further one million then used Bicester Village in the six months after trains started running to Oxford Station .

Chiltern Railways managing director Dave Penney said: "It is six months since we launched services between Oxford city centre and London Marylebone and the new line is performing ahead of expectations.

"We are delighted with how it has been received.

"The route provides new options for those commuting into Oxford and real choice and flexibility for those travelling between Oxford, Bicester and London delivering meaningful benefits for those living and working in the region."

The completion of the new line running between Oxford Station, Oxford Parkway, Bicester Village Station and London Marylebone celebrated its sixth month milestone on Monday.

When it was opened in December it was the first new rail link between the centre of a major city and London in more than 100 years.

It came almost a year after the first phase of the line was opened from Oxford Parkway to London Marylebone via Bicester Village.

The latest figures show three million journeys have been made on the new line since opening December 2016 including the two million to and from Bicester Village Station.

Bicester Village designer outlet has also said that the overall numbers of shoppers arriving by train has soared from three per cent to 10 per cent.

Bicester Village business director Sarah-Jane Curtis said: "Working in partnership with Chiltern means that we can continue to enhance the overall experience for our guests whilst reducing traffic on local roads.

"With one in 10 travelling by train, this is now the preferred option for many of the visitors to Bicester Village."

The Chiltern Railway figures also showed that an extra 95,000 journeys have been made between Oxford Station and London Marylebone in the past six months than the previous six months to this.