Osney Rail Bridge is a railway bridge over the River Thames

River Thames

The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...

 at Oxford

Oxford

The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

 in England. It carries the Cherwell Valley Line

Cherwell Valley Line

The Cherwell Valley Line is the railway line between Didcot and Banbury via Oxford. It links the Great Western Main Line and the south to the Chiltern Main Line and the Midlands...

 between Didcot

Didcot

Didcot is a town and civil parish in Oxfordshire about south of Oxford. Until 1974 it was in Berkshire, but was transferred to Oxfordshire in that year, and from Wallingford Rural District to the district of South Oxfordshire...

 and Oxford

Oxford

The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

 across the river on the reach between Iffley Lock

Iffley Lock

Iffley Lock is a lock on the River Thames in England near the village of Iffley, Oxfordshire. It is on the southern outskirts of Oxford. The original lock was built by the Oxford-Burcot Commission in 1631 and the Thames Navigation Commission replaced this in 1793...

 and Osney Lock

Osney Lock

Osney Lock is a lock on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England. It is close to Oxford where the village or island of Osney is next to the river.The first lock was built of stone by Daniel Harris for the Thames Navigation Commission in 1790....

.

The original bridge was built in 1850, when the Great Western Railway

Great Western Railway

The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...

 built a new line from its original Oxford station at Grandpont

Grandpont, Oxford

Grandpont is a mainly residential area in south Oxford. It is west of Abingdon Road, and consists mainly of narrow streets that run at right-angles to the main road, with terraced late-Victorian and Edwardian houses....

 to Rugby

Rugby, Warwickshire

Rugby is a market town in Warwickshire, England, located on the River Avon. The town has a population of 61,988 making it the second largest town in the county...

.. The north side of the bridge was on the island which was then called Osney

Osney

Osney, Osney Island, or Osney Town is a riverside community in the west of the city of Oxford, England. It is located off the Botley Road, just west of the city's main railway station, on an island surrounded by the River Thames, known in Oxford as the Isis. Osney is part of the city council ward...

. A second bridge was built in 1887 within a foot or so of the first bridge.

The bridge is maintained by Network Rail

Network Rail

Network Rail is the government-created owner and operator of most of the rail infrastructure in Great Britain .; it is not responsible for railway infrastructure in Northern Ireland...

, who refer to the bridge as River Isis Crossing.