Connectivity
Transport and connectivity
EXOq will be served by Oxford Parkway station with direct access from the site.
The station is just a few hundred metres from boundary of EXOq.
London Marylebone station is only a 75-minute journey from Oxford Parkway station;alternatively it is six-minutes from Oxford Station with more direct onward connections.
Oxford Parkway station lies a few hundred metres from EXOq.
When completed in 2015, Oxford Parkway became the first new railway station in the area in 80 years.
It serves a direct rail link to London Marylebone, with trains taking from a little over an hour to reach the capital. Services run roughly every half hour or so.
Trains also run to Oxford’s main railway station, a journey which takes around six minutes. From there, London Paddington can be reached in less than an hour, and Birmingham New Street in around 70 minutes. Bristol Temple Meads is around an hour and a quarter from Oxford, and Cardiff Central an hour and 40 minutes.
Oxford was linked to Cambridge for many years by what was known as the Varsity Line, which by the 1930s was operated by LNER – the London and North Eastern Railway.
In 2017, the Government created the East-West Rail company. Its task was to look at new plans for an Oxford-Cambridge link.
Two years later, the Government committed £760m to support the proposals, and by 2024 Oxford and Bletchley, near Milton Keynes, were connected by rail for the first time in half a century.
Further investment has followed, and it is expected that passengers will be able to travel directly from Oxford to Bedford with an hourly service, starting within the next five years.
East West Rail eventually promises a direct route to Bicester Village, Winslow, Bletchley, Bedford, Tempsford, Cambourne, Cambridge South and Cambridge.
In addition to plans for East West Rail, it has been announced that the Cowley Branch railway line will reopen to passengers with new stations at Littlemore and Cowley, as part of a £500 million investment programme for new homes, infrastructure and business space for the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor.
Science Minister and Oxford-Cambridge Innovation Champion, Lord Vallance, said:
“This region has all the ingredients to be the UK’s answer to Silicon Valley or the Boston Cluster: somewhere that turns world-class innovation into economic growth the whole nation benefits from.”
Improving rail across the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor
At the moment, it takes around two-and-a half hours to travel by train from Oxford to Cambridge. Passengers from Oxford’s main station travel first to Paddington. Then they need to get to Kings Cross, half an hour away on the Circle line, before catching a service to Cambridge.
Passengers using Oxford Parkway to reach Marylebone will also need to spend 30 minutes or so reaching Kings Cross. Should the direct Oxford-Cambridge service be in place sometime in the next decade, as hoped, East West Rail could take you from Oxford to Cambridge via Bedford, Bicester and Bletchley in approximately 1 hour 35 minutes, with no need to change in London.
In anticipation of additional demand, improvements are taking place at Oxford Station to support the new East West Railservices.
Getting to and around the site
The proposals include a new bridge for pedestrians and cyclists over the dual carriageway and railway, harnessing the site’s unparalleled proximity to Oxford Parkway station.
This offers a major opportunity to encourage a car-free culture.
EXOq offers many opportunities for sustainable travel choices, with links to the Oxford Canal towpath, a designated pedestrian and cycle ‘Quietway’ to Oxford and Kidlington, and pedestrian routes across the site to Oxford Parkway station.
The key feature of this site is its proximity to Oxford Parkway railway station. To improve connectivity between the site and the station, EXOq proposes a new pedestrian and cycle bridge over the A34 dual carriageway and the railway line.
A new underpass is also proposed, connecting the new footbridge with the station. The bridge would also connect with Oxford Road, providing an accessible link to the station’s existing ramps and existing road crossing.
Vehicular access needs have been consolidated in one area of the site with a centralised transport hub and car park. This will ensure minimal vehicle movements through the main site and restrict traffic to essential service and emergency vehicles only.
The site will have a new junction off the A4260, Frieze Way in addition to the existing access off the Woodstock Road. A small stretch of new road will be added to provide access to the new café and park.
Access to the site from the Oxford Canal towpath has the potential to link with the dual pedestrian and cycle path over King’s Bridge on Woodstock Road.
Pre-feasibility new footbridge concept – Artist's impression
A sustainable travel plan will be included in a future planning application, and the transport strategy will promote enhanced cycle infrastructure, supporting Oxford’s vision for a Cycle Super Route and Premium Route.
In the meantime, an in-depth site-specific local transport model is being developed which will give up-to-date information on the present traffic and travel situation to help us understand what other steps may be necessary to support the planning application.
Within the site, movement will focus on walking and cycling, reducing reliance on road transport and lowering likely carbon emissions.
A key benefit of the site is the rail and active travel links to the centre of Oxford and other key University sites such as Osney Mead, Oxford North and Begbroke.
These low-car, low-carbon travel options will appeal to the types of innovators that will be drawn to this location, for whom the opportunity for sustainable travel is of paramount importance. Active travel opportunities will also help create and nourish interactions between those working on the site, further strengthening the innovation ecosystem.
What is active travel?
Active travel is people-powered, as an alternative to relying on the internal combustion engine or an electric motor.
The definition is primarily walking and cycling but also includes wheelchairs. Less common, but possibly even more healthy, forms include running, rowing, and roller skating!
Oxford Canal towpath – South of King's Bridge
Powering the site
Proposals deliver on-site solar PV and seek off-site renewable energy provision.
Co-location of facilities to enable a circular energy strategy where waste heat will be utilised via new energy centre to support district heating systems.
EXOq and the 1Energy facilities would use the latest technologies to maximise efficiency.
While supercomputing infrastructure generally uses a considerable amount of energy, in the form of electricity, EXOq’s requirements would be scaled over time, with significant power offtakes pre-planned. We will work with electricity generators, providers and distributors to make sure that the demands of EXOq do not conflict with the energy needs of surrounding communities.
We will also ensure that, through providing onsite solar PV, we generate electricity as well as consume it. Opportunities are also being explored for off-site renewable power connections.
The supercomputer would use a range of the latest technologies, including Direct Liquid Cooling (DLC) rather than traditional air-cooling methods.
DLC is more efficient than relying on the circulation of air to cool supercomputer components - it has been calculated to be up to 20 times more energy efficient than traditional systems. This is because the heat capacity of liquids is orders of magnitude larger than that of air.
In a car, hotter liquid is cooled through the vehicle's radiator and heat is dispersed into the surrounding atmosphere.
EXOq would treat this heat not as something to be dispersed, but as a useful asset in the fight against climate change.
We are proposing to use waste heat from the supercomputer to provide sustainable heating to local neighbourhoods and in the Innovation District itself in an integrated solution which could lower energy costs to the local community.
The heat would be drawn from the supercomputer into the energy centre. From there, 1Energy are proposing to use it to supply the planned new low-carbon heat network in Oxford and surrounding areas such as Kidlington.
Through limiting the use of gas to only backup/ emergency such networks help cut public health costs through reduced pollution, protect organisations and individuals against sudden gas related energy price hikes, and lower the area's carbon footprint.
In relation to water efficiency, as a closed system DLC does not require a constant source of fresh coolant such as water, so does not put strain on the local water system.
How does DLC work?
The cooling liquid circulates around the system, transferring heat away from the hardware as it does, operating in much the same way as the cooling system in a car with an internal combustion engine.
Oxford Energy Network
1Energy is working on the development of a low-carbon heat network for Oxford and the surrounding area.
This is backed by £21m of Green Heat Network Funding and £100m in private investment.
A heat network is a distribution system that takes heat from a central source (energy centre), or several sources, and delivers it to multiple buildings via underground, water-filled pipes – removing the need for gas boilers in buildings.
Heat networks are able to use a wide range of heat sources, including repurposing waste heat from other buildings and sites. They provide the simplest, lowest cost, and fastest route to delivering low-carbon heat at scale.
In individual buildings, gas boilers are removed, and a heat exchanger is installed which connects to the wider network and enables building level control.
It is proposed that the site for 1Energy’s Oxford energy centre is at EXOq, using heat generated by the Sovereign High-Performance Compute (HPC) to supply the whole network.
The energy centre will host air and water source heat pumps that enable waste heat to be captured efficiently from the neighbouring HPC and the local environment.
All buildings connected to the network will benefit from low-carbon heating and hot water, helping them meet sustainability targets.
By reusing what would otherwise be wasted heat from the HPC, the development will significantly reduce emissions and help move Oxford towards carbon neutrality.
This approach reflects the principles of the circular economy - maximising resources, cutting waste, and ensuring that energy is used as efficiently as possible.
1Energy are nearing completion on a £75m Heat Network in Bradford that repurposes waste heat from data centres and recently announced a £95m low carbon heating network from data centres in Milton Keynes.
The energy centre's modular design allows it to grow gradually as the network expands. This also minimises the height and therefore visual impact on the surrounding landscape.
This energy centre would:
Reduce Oxford’s reliance on fossil-fuel gas by 10% and cut carbon emissions by 15,000 tonnes a year.
Improve local air quality by immediately reducing a significant proportion of CO2 and NOx emissions linked to fossil fuel heating.
Represent a £122m investment into local infrastructure, rising up to £500m as Oxford Energy Network expands.