Reopen the Cheltenham to Kingham railway line ONLY when East West Rail is completed
I have set up a website for the proposed railway line between Cheltenham and Kingham - it is at
https://free-3733520.webador.co.uk/
INTRODUCTION: -
The government is promoting a scheme called EAST WEST RAIL.
This will restore the railway line between Cambridge and Oxford and provide a major cross country railway link.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1870179/new-train-line-east-west-rail-oxford-cambridge
Background Information:-
The original railway line was closed in the 1960's (1968.01.01)
The scheme to reinstate the Oxford to Cambridge railway was founded in 1995.
The original railway is still available between Oxford and Bedford having been retained for freight trains and limited passenger services after closure to through services and is being re-used.
Between Bedford and Cambridge the original railway is not available because the original railway via Sandy and Potton was dismantled after closure and the land sold off, and so a new alignment via Tempsford and Cambourne is proposed which is called 'Route E' –
although this is very highly controversial in the Bedford area alone.
THE EFFECT OF EAST WEST RAIL: -
EAST WEST RAIL will revolutionise transport links across South East England.
It will enable fast cross - country railway journeys in the area without having to travel via London.
The new EAST WEST RAIL link is a major opportunity for the county of Gloucestershire and it must not be allowed to slip by without being exploited.
EXISTING TRANSPORT LINKS
Cheltenham and Andoversford have questionable transport links to Oxford where the EAST WEST RAIL route starts from.
There are a few buses a day, run by Stagecoach between Cheltenham and Oxford City Centre via the A40 road, and an hourly bus <-> railway link during the day only Monday to Sunday operated by Pullman's and First Great Western with good connections at Moreton in the Marsh station.
The ONLY way to get from Cheltenham to Oxford by railway line is to travel via Swindon or Worcester which costs £51.20 return.
All these means of transport CAN take over two hours.
The last buses from Oxford to Andoversford and Cheltenham run at around 5:12pm and the last journey possible from Oxford to Andoversford and Cheltenham for the bus -- rail link is even earlier.
MY SUGGESTION: -
The suggestion I am making is for a new West - East railway line between Cheltenham and Kingham with a service on to link up with EAST WEST RAIL at Oxford.
This would take approximately one hour.
The old railway line in places CANNOT be re-used as it has been built over, so DEVIATION’s needed.
The huge cost and low usage of the original railway when it was closed in 1962.13.10 mean that the new railway line would not be viable until EAST WEST RAIL is fully built and open.
However it is worth noting that the new railway would revolutionise the travel between Cotswolds and Chilterns via the Chiltern Evergreen railway line between Oxford and London via Bicester and also provide slightly faster trains between Cheltenham and London.
THE DEVIATIONS: -
The old railway line through Cheltenham CANNOT be re-used because it has been built over, so a DEVIATION to the South of the town is needed.
Cheltenham DEVIATION would diverge from the main line at Badgeworth, run across fields following field boundaries to cross the A46 via an underpass at Chargrove to the North of Shurdington, then tunnel beneath Leckhampton Hill to emerge behind the C and G building / beside the Lidl supermarket at the site of Charlton Kings Halt, a new Cirencester Road bridge would be built, a new station would be built in the wooded cutting to the East of Cirencester Road, then to the East of Little Herberts Road the railway would slew to the South of the houses and gardens along the old railway formation before re-joining the disused railway formation at the end of the houses.
https://free-3733520.webador.co.uk/deviated-route-south-of-cheltenham
At Andoversford the new railway line would have to be DEVIATED to the South of the houses built over the old station site at Pine Holt, crossing Station Road at an angle via a road over bridge, the station serving the village would be built on old railway land to the South of the A40 village bypass and the new railway would cross the A40 via a further road over bridge.
https://free-3733520.webador.co.uk/andoversford-area
At Bourton on the Water, the new railway would have to be DEVIATED to the West of A429 Fosse Way and to the North of the village.
https://free-3733520.webador.co.uk/bourton-on-the-water
At Notgrove and Stow - on - the - Wold station sites and Chadwick Lakes Leisure Site, the railway was built on after closure so will need to be DEVIATED beside the old railway formation to avoid area's built over.
WHY NOT BUILD A MORE DIRECT RAILWAY TO WITNEY AND YARNTON JUNCTION?
After details of the scheme for a restored railway line between Cheltenham and Kingham (Oxford) were passed to Cotswold Line Promotional Group recently there was one suggestion made by a member surveyed, for an entirely new railway to be built between the Cheltenham to Andoversford village line and the restored railway line between Carterton and Oxford with a junction at Witney.
However this would be very difficult to do because the proposal would rely on using the track bed of the Midland and South Western Junction Railway at Andoversford which has largely been re-developed South of the junction with the Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway track bed.
Also building an entirely new railway formation to Witney would be very costly.
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