The annual awards are held by the Association of Community Rail Partnerships to recognise excellence in promoting best practice in community rail development.

The Cotswold Line Railbus took the coveted top prize in the Local Transport Integration category after being entered by Oxfordshire County Council, who pay for the services.

The Cotswold Line Railbus, started as a taxibus in the villages surrounding Charlbury using funding from the government’s rural bus challenge scheme in the late 1990’s.

When the council took over the funding in 2004, the buses, bus stops, timetables and leaflet were given a new "Cotswold Line Railbus" image and this website was launched. A brighter new leaflet was distributed across West Oxfordshire last year and the website re-launched. Better promotion has been successful in attracting more passengers over the past five years.

In making the award, the judges said “they were pleased to see a well thought out, integrated bus/rail service coupled with excellent marketing materials, doing what it was designed to do.”

The council also won an award for a line guide leaflet to promote North Oxfordshire and the Oxford Canal by using the Oxford Canal Line between Oxford and Banbury. The line guide was produced for the award-winning partnership which also includes First Great Western, British Waterways, Cherwell District Council and Heyford-based Oxfordshire Narrowboats.

County Councillor Rodney Rose, Cabinet Member for Transport Implementation said: "It is always nice to get awards and these latest two recognise the work we are doing in raising the profile of the railways as a viable and cost effective alternative to the car. I also acknowledge the role played by the dedicated team of bus drivers from RH Transport who operate the Railbus services for the county council, and our partners in the Oxford Canal Partnership without whose support we would not have achieved our success.”

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