Bid for funds to examine Stratford to Honeybourne reopening

A bid to examine the economic benefits of reopening the Stratford-upon-Avon to Honeybourne line is being backed by Mid-Worcestershire MP Nigel Huddleston, as part of the Government’s ‘Restoring your Railway’ fund.

The Shakespeare Line Promotion Group, the Cotswold Line Promotion Group and Leamington Spa and Solihull Rail Users Association are asking for up to £75,000 in order to carry out an economic impact assessment to establish the benefits that reopening the railway could provide.

The bid has the unanimous backing of Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Gloucester County Councils, as well as three district councils and the West Midlands Rail Executive. Further support has come from the Stratford Residents Action Group, which is opposing the £100 million-plus South Western Relief Road.

The railway was closed following a derailment at Winchcombe in 1976, but the formation has been protected in successive local plans. The section between Long Marston and Honeybourne remains in use as a single-track branch connecting Porterbrook’s railway operations and storage site at Long Marston.

Shakespeare Line Promotion Group Secretary Fraser Pithie emphasised that the bid was not seeking the estimated £110m cost of reopening the railway.

“What we have asked for is funding for an Economic Impact Assessment. This is not the same as asking for funding to actually reopen the railway,” he said.

“We want to obtain a full set of objective economic benefits to understand if a case for reopening does indeed stack up. It’s about acting on fact.”

Should the railway reopen, direct trains could run between Stratfordupon-Avon and Oxford, improving connectivity. And trains calling at Worcestershire Parkway would enable passengers to travel to the South West and South Wales directly from South Birmingham and Stratford without having to change trains at Birmingham New Street.