Support for the Cotswold Line

Fri 22 Oct 2021, 08:14 (last edited on Fri 22 Oct 2021, 08:21)

It wasn’t me who suggested two tracks were needed there, William.

The issue which will be expensive and messy to resolve is the road-rail conflict, exacerbated by the creation of car-reliant potential objectors living in the estates around the trackbed.  The reopening should be obvious - the route should never have closed in the first place - but there’s no use pretending it will be easy.

(I suspect this isn’t the reason for the delays in releasing the rail infrastructure pipeline though - see newcivilengineer.com)

Thu 21 Oct 2021, 18:33

Gareth, no one is proposing running a high-frequency metro service on a reopened rail link into Stratford upon Avon from the Cotswold Line. 

A short section of single-track railway (which is what was actually allowed for by your friends the planners when the road was constructed) running from the edge of Stratford to just past the Evesham Road roundabout, before becoming double track again on the approach to Stratford station, would be fine when it comes to handling trains running to and from Oxford and Worcester every hour, with capacity for peak extras or extensions of some Birmingham-Stratford trains to serve commuters from Long Marston. 

Wed 20 Oct 2021, 21:35

You can’t do level crossings any more.  (Rightly so)

The planners who built the houses in Stratford paid lip service to the idea of reopening the railway, while exponentially increasing the cost particularly because of the cut and cover tunnel. There is no way two tracks have the space there alongside the road, unless the railway is planned as narrow gauge like at Porthmadog……

Nonetheless it would be great to see the line there reopen.  We will see what transpires.

It was reported that after passenger trains were withdrawn in 1962, the Oxford-Witney branch was actually profitable for BR.  The study conducted by the county around 20 years ago concluded that the blocking of the trackbed by the bypass after final closure in 1970 and the subsequent development at Station Lane were the major obstacles to reopening.  The results of that study were of course used by the former administration as an excuse to further build on the trackbed at Eynsham…..

Wed 20 Oct 2021, 10:15

A few points related to things said below:

As Rod Evans notes, in Stratford the section of road built along the old railway formation is wide enough to accommodate a railway track alongside - the design concept here is to put the trains in a trench beside the road and…

Long post - click to read full text

Tue 19 Oct 2021, 23:35

A lot more info here:  www.suawoox.com

If I've read this right, there is to be an Economic Impact Assessment.  And the stretch of road I mentioned is said to have been kept wide enough to allow re-instatement (those far-sighted planners, eh Gareth!) but possibly a tunnel would be needed to avoid having a level crossing (there were one there when I were a lad).  So not as hopeless a cause as I first thought...

The website also addresses the tramway issue between Long Marston and Stratford - connectivity, essentially. 

If you go back far enough, there was once a tramway line from Stratford to Moreton-in-Marsh and Shipston on Stour, hence the Tramway bridge, long since pedestrianised - and only about 400 years younger than the Clopton bridge which still takes all the traffic!  There were also once 2 railway lines, roughly north-south and east-west - and I seem to remember reading that before WW2 it was possible to get back to London post-theatre.  Progress...

The service now from Marylebone is pretty awful, takes over 2 hours and is infrequent.  Locals tend to go to Warwick Parkway.  If restoration meant more trains through Charlbury, then surely the line would have to be fully redoubled.  Not impossible also it might provide a direct service to Brum.  My sister lives between Stratford and Long Marston so as far as I'm concerned, bring it on!

And thanks Christine, I always wondered why the line from Witney stopped at Fairford - lovely place, especially the River Coln, but hardly a major terminus...

Tue 19 Oct 2021, 00:18 (last edited on Tue 19 Oct 2021, 00:20)

Witney railway station struggled after GWR (as unscrupulous in the late 19th century as it was in later decades) blocked the building of the through route from Witney to Cheltenham via Fairford and Lechlade that had originally been planned. This happened around 1890 when the line from Witney was forced to terminate at Fairford. Rather too simplistic to blame the 1970s planners.

GWR also bears some of the responsibility for a number of the other failing and orphaned stations in the Cotswolds area that were eventually forced to close. (And Stow station was, not very surprisingly, at the bottom of the steep hill -- no problem at all when horses and stagecoaches and taxis were on call to ferry passages up the hill and into the town centre.)

Personally I would love to see the Stratford link re-opened. There is absolutely no resemblance to the HS2 white elephant. Links between London and Stratford are at present awful, especially when travelling back after an evening performance at the RSC.  Links to places like Bristol or Wales and the West Country barely exist at present.

I thought the business case made on the Shakespeare Line website quite persuasive, although I'm not sure why the current gap between Long Marston and Stratford town centre needs to be by rail, as opposed to by over-ground tram. And, of course, the links with the newly opened Worcester Parkway Station to Long Marston do also complicate the picture. Certainly worth investigating, given the number of tourists that used to visit Stratford in pre-Covid days -- nearly all travelling by car or coach.

Mon 18 Oct 2021, 21:14 (last edited on Tue 19 Oct 2021, 16:48)

The populations of Witney and Carterton have increased exponentially since the railway shut (at a point where freight traffic was reportedly not loss-making) and 1970s planners built over the trackbed.  A very high proportion of Witney residents commute to Oxford, and had it not been for the blocking of the now thankfully former County administration, they would now be able to do so by rail again.  
(The same cannot be said for the Banbury-Cheltenham railway, notorious for its stations with the exception of Chippy being nowhere near the towns they served, Stow in particular.)

There was allegedly passive provision made to get a railway through the estate at Stratford, though it might be said to be challenging in engineering terms.  It is a clear case of a route that should never have been closed - as is Witney.

Mon 18 Oct 2021, 19:18

I have sometimes sat on the bus from Witney to Oxford for over an hour during peak times, as have friends and colleagues. It really isn't quick! Or comfortable. Having a train link from Witney to Oxford would improve commuting in a really positive way. 

Mon 18 Oct 2021, 17:44

I wouldn’t call it quick – it’s 52 minutes from Oxford to Witney by bus at rush-hour, compared to 17 minutes by train from Oxford to Charlbury. By the time the bus arrives at Witney Market Square, the train is pulling into Evesham!

(And that’s before the thousands of new houses for Eynsham, the Salt Cross Garden Village, Witney and Carterton have been built.)

Mon 18 Oct 2021, 16:47

Oxford and Witney has a very regular (every 10 minutes) and quick bus link so the incremental benefit seems questionable. 

I think a return of the Cheltenham to Banbury line would be much more useful although all the tunnels have been filled in and the original site of Chipping Norton station is now occupied. The original platforms still exist at Kingham station though

Mon 18 Oct 2021, 14:03 (last edited on Mon 18 Oct 2021, 14:09)

Stratford already has rail links to Birmingham and (via Leamington Spa) to London, so the incremental benefit seems questionable.  Another white elephant to go with HS2?

Re-installing double track between Charlbury and Handborough to allow better punctuality and service frequency along the WHOLE Cotswold line looks much better value for money IMHO.

Some form of Witney - Oxford rail link could also be really beneficial, especially if / when Eynsham Garden Village gets built. That though should not be at the expense of proper dualling of the A40 (the other missing link) between Oxford and Witney.

Sat 16 Oct 2021, 07:24

The shortsighted actions of Stratford’s planners - see also Witney - will exponentially increase the cost, indeed.  The actions will also generate significant objection from the residents of said estate.

Fri 15 Oct 2021, 23:26

I grew up in Stratford and still visit occasionally.  Great idea -  see here: https://www.shakespeareline.com/stratford-to-honeybourne-2/ ; There is a practical problem however in that a section of the line within Stratford was turned into a road (to the 'new' bridge over the river on this side of the town) with housing estates either side.  Beyond there, it's become a footpath & cycleway, not sure how restorable but can't see this happening without a very expensive engineering solution and/or houses being demolished...

Before the line closed, we used to travel to Exeter to visit my grand-parents.  My mother once put me on the train, alone, aged 8, and asked a man sitting in the compartment to make sure I got off at St David's.... would anyone dare do that now?!

Fri 15 Oct 2021, 20:48

Train lines are expensive. Is there a business case?

Fri 15 Oct 2021, 19:05 (last edited on Fri 15 Oct 2021, 19:06)

The Telegraph ran a piece today about train lines the writer wants to see restored and among them is the Stratford to Oxford line.  This would run through Charlbury.  A bid is in to government for this line to be reopened and I've supported this because it would secure the doubling of the line between Charlbury and Hanborough and would guarantee more frequent trains stopping at Charlbury, as well as potentially taking many tourist cars off the roads.  Let's hope the Telegraph-reading Tories see this and agree!

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/united-kingdom/forgotten-british-rail-routes-would-love-return/