IT will be all change on the Cotswold Line from Friday night as the next phase of the Oxford to Worcester rail route’s transformation gets under way.

Passengers are being warned to expect disruption on services as a result.

The passage of the last trains of the day will be marked in Ascott-under-Wychwood signalbox by the ringing of gleaming brass bells and the final few movements of the large levers which control the signals and point outside.

The line will then close for the next nine days – May 28-June 5 inclusive – between Oxford and Kingham for the commissioning of four miles of new double track from Ascott to Charlbury as part of a £67 million modernisation project.

The next time a passenger train speeds by, early on the morning of Monday, June 6, the signalbox opened in 1883 by Great Western Railway will have been catapulted from the Victorian age into the 21st Century.

In place of the levers there will be a push-button digital panel.

Ivan Johnson, a Network Rail deputy local operations manager based in Worcester, who supervises the signal boxes from Worcester to Ledbury in the west and Ascott in the east, said: “It’s not as nice as a lever frame, but that’s how the modern railway is.

“They have used a similar system at Oxford for quite a while. It will show us exactly where a train is anywhere on the line from the edge of Oxford as far as Kingham, indicated by lights moving along the panel.”

Similar digital equipment will be installed at Evesham signalbox in August.

One thing that will not change is the team who staff the signalboxes, nor their dedication to the job.

Mr Johnson said: “It’s your home for each eight-hour shift as you’re not allowed to move from the box so you treat it the same as you would your home.”

l The Cotswold Line will be closed to trains between Kingham and Oxford from Saturday until Sunday, June 5, for completion of track redoubling work between Ascott and Charlbury.

During the closure, limited Worcester-London through services will run at peak times via Stroud and Swindon. A shuttle train service will run between Worcester and Kingham, connecting with buses to and from Oxford at Moreton-in-Marsh.

The Cotswold Line will reopen on Monday, June 6.

There will be a further closure in August between Worcester and Moreton-in-Marsh for commissioning of more double track.