Reopen the Cheltenham to Kingham railway line ONLY when East West Rail is completed
In 1962 the remaining portions of the Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway open to passengers closed down.
This project looks at transport links between Cheltenham and Oxford and how they could be improved, specifically whether the Cheltenham to Kingham portion of the route could become a viable rail reinstatement project.
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)
East West Rail is the project to reopen the railway between Oxford and Cambridge which closed in 1968.
The consortium behind the project has existed since 1995 when it was set up by Ipswich Borough Council.
The first attempt at persuading the then Strategic Railway Authority to back reinstatement of the service from Oxford as far as Bletchley failed in 2001.
In 2012 the project gained UK government backing.
East West Rail is being delivered in phases with upgrading the rundown but extant Oxford to Bedford section prioritised.
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.
The first phase built by Chiltern Railway's by 2016 between Oxford and Bicester to allow a through Oxford - Bicester - Chilterns - London service is complete.
The second phase between Bicester and Bletchley (Milton Keynes) has been built along the site of a freight only line parts of which had been disused since 1993.
It will allow through Oxford to Milton Keynes trains.
Upgrading the rundown but open Bletchley to Bedford line is being planned to extend line from Oxford to Bedford.
Between Bedford and Cambridge the original railway is not available because the original railway was dismantled after closure and the land sold off, and so a new alignment is proposed which is called 'Route E' -
although this is very highly controversial in the Bedford area alone.
See https://bfare.org.uk/ for details.
THE EFFECT OF EAST WEST RAIL: -
EAST WEST RAIL will revolutionise transport links across South East England.
It will enable fast cross - country railway journey in the area without having to travel via London.
The new EAST WEST RAIL link is a major opportunity for the county of Gloucestershire, the county of Herefordshire and the county of Worcestershire, 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 Monday to Saturday and on a Sunday, 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 interchange with good rail 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 two to three hours.
The last buses from Oxford to Andoversford and Cheltenham run at around 5:12 pm and the last journey possible from Oxford to Andoversford and Cheltenham for the bus -- railway 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 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.
WHAT TO AVOID:-
In 2013 Mr. Will Windsor Clive the then responsible Cabinet member at Gloucestershire County Council, rejected restoring the former railway entirely along the former railway line closed to passengers in October 1962 on the basis of its huge cost and impact on the town of Cheltenham.
He also pointed out that the Cheltenham to Kingham railway would not provide faster services to and from London.
Earlier in 2012 Mr. Adrian Saunders the then Rail Development Officer for Oxfordshire County Council had raised serious concerns raised that the railway entirely along the former railway line closed in 1962 would cost hundreds of millions of pounds, works be hugely disruptive and far out-weigh the benefits.
These concerns were the basis for designing the proposal for a DEVIATED railway line avoiding areas of line that had been redeveloped in Cheltenham, Bourton - on - the - Water and so on.
THE BASIS OF THE PROPOSAL:-
Over the 24 mile route of the existing disused railway line most of the rail bed is intact and used as a path (cia 18 miles) but six miles of the original formation has been re-developed.
So Deviations are needed South of Cheltenham and West of Bourton-on-the-Water (beside Fosse Way & industrial area) and at Notgrove and Stow - on - the - Wold station sites and at Chadwick Lakes leisure complex near Kingham.
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.
Likewise at Andoversford and Bourton on the Water, 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 partially/ wholly DEVIATED to avoid area's built over.
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.
This 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 beside the Lidl supermarket at the site of Charlton Kings Halt, 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.
The viaduct at Dowdeswell has been demolished so a new structure will be required.
Sandywell Tunnel nearby requires examination and re-commissioning and extensive works are needed to cross Sandywell Park.
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.
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.
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 wholly DEVIATED to avoid area's built over by running beside the old railway formation.
New bridges would be required to carry nearby roads across the railway at Notgrove and Stow-on-the-Wold.
POSSIBLE EFFECT AT CHELTENHAM: -
There has long been talk of providing a 'Bay' platform beside the 'main' platforms at Cheltenham Lansdown station to increase station capacity.
The new hourly service to Oxford may increase the need for this.
POSSIBLE EFFECT ON COTSWOLD LINE BETWEEN KINGHAM AND OXFORD: -
The service between Cheltenham and Oxford would run hourly.
Trains would call ONLY at Kingham station - the junction - and Finstock station, to serve the bus service between Witney and Chipping Norton.
Thus, the new service would not abstract traffic from existing services.
The old branch platform at Kingham MAY have to be reinstated to cater for unforeseen operating circumstances.
The additional trains would make it easier to call for a passing loop to be provided at Finstock station,.
In the longer term, the additional trains would make it easier to call for for re - doubling of the line between Kingham and Ascott - under - Wychwood and between Charlbury and Hanborough (there is already a very welcome proposal for re - doubling of the railway line between Hanborough and Wolvercote Junction).
See https://www.northcotswoldline.co.uk/full-proposal/ for details.
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