The Stratford Upon Avon to Honeybourne Line
The railway line between Stratford Upon Avon and Cheltenham Lansdown closed in stages between 05 March 1960 (Local services Cheltenham to Honeybourne) and 01 October 1976 (the whole route, as a freight-only diversery route, after a derailment). Only the short section of line between Honeybourne and Long Marston was retained to serve as a long siding to serve rolling stock storage facilities at Long Marston.
Since then a thriving preserved railway has grown up along the Section of line South of Honeybourne --
the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway. https://www.gwsr.com/
Calls for the line between Honeybourne and Stratford Upon Avon to be revived have been made since the line closed.
In Recent Years there have been attempts made to get the railway line re-opened.
The cost has been put in 2022 as being around £110 million.
An attempt was made to get the Honeybourne and Stratford Upon Avon railway line re-opening in to the previous Conservative government's ''Restoring our Railways'' initiative but this failed in mid-2022.
There is STRONG local opposition to the re-opening of the railway line from the Stratford Greenway Society.
https://stratfordgreenwaygroup.co.uk/stratford-greenway/ -- info@stratfordgreenwaygroup.co.uk
Recent attempts to try to revive the cause of re-opening the Stratford to Honeybourne railway line
In 2025 a Statement of Potential Business Case (SOPBC) was presented to the various stakeholders advocating the re-opening of the railway line.
The cost is now put at around £90 million for the Southern section of line South of Stratford Racecourse PLUS more for the Northern section involving tunnelling beneath the town.
Fresh look at case for reopening Stratford to Honeybourne rail link (stratford-herald.com)
The Yarnton Junction to Witney and Carterton Line
The GWR branch line between Fairford and Oxford via Caterton and Witney closed to passenger traffic in June 1962 and the remaining freight traffic to Witney area was gone by the early 1970's.
Re-opening of the dismantled railway line between Yarnton Junction, Eynsham, Witney and Carterton to relive traffic congestion on the A40 near Oxford has been advocated for years and is currently being spearheaded by the Witney to Oxford Transport Group .https://witneyoxfordtransport.org.uk/
Some of the formation of the old line has been lost.
At Witney the railway was buried under the dual carriageway A40 bypass which runs to the south of the town
In an earlier investigation by Oxfordshire County Council in 2023 the cost of building a new line was put at between £700 million and £900 million.
Recently in July 2025 the re-opening of the railway line between Yarnton Junction, Eynsham, Witney and Carterton was described as economically viable.
In a survey commissioned by sanctioned by West Oxfordshire District Council (WODC).
The cost was put at £600 million.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0k72ln3748o
https://railnews.mobi/news/2025/07/17-new-study-supports-rebuilding-oxfordshire.html
https://www.westoxon.gov.uk/media/51sa12et/cworc-economic-analysis-final-report-26-06-25.pdf
In recent consultation from WODC (closing in early August 2025) on Policy PL5 – Carterton-Witney-Oxford Rail Corridor
The safeguarding of the corridor and the eventual re-opening of the railway were identified as two aims.
Labour government Response:-
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