Fawley branch reopening moves a step closer

Plans to reopen a freight line near Southampton to passenger trains have taken a step forward.

The idea of running trains on the line between Totton and Hythe, on the branch line to Fawley oil refinery, was cut short in 2014 when Hampshire County Council declined support.

Now the council has submitted a bid to the Department for Transport to fund a feasibility study. The plan is also backed by New Forest District Council, with campaigners hailing a shift in favour of the project.

The six-mile Waterside line was opened in 1925 to serve the refinery. It was last used by passenger trains in 1966, but is still used by up to one train a day to access the military port at Marchwood. And until 2016, weekly trains brought crude oil from small Surrey oil wells via Holybourne terminal near Alton.

The mechanical signal box on the platform of the former Marchwood station remains in use, but the five miles of mostly single track along the edge of the New Forest to Fawley are dormant and rusting. Inside the high security gates, several miles of Network Rail sidings are also redundant.

Campaigners now believe a reopening could be justified, to support Long Harbour plc’s plans to build 1,500 new homes on the site of the former Fawley power station, with a restaurant on top of the landmark chimney that is visible throughout the Solent area. A rail consultancy employed by

Long Harbour advocates a 60mph twice-hourly passenger service, initially to Hythe, within ten years.

Totton County Councillor David Harrison said: “If you think of the social and environmental benefits, it ticks a huge amount of boxes. With climate change up the agenda, it’s a more sustainable way of travelling rather than sitting in queues of traffic on the A326.”

The New Forest National Park Authority said it “very much supported” the reintroduction of passenger services.

In 2009, a plan to reopen part of the route to passengers was unveiled. An Association of Train Operating Companies report found it had the best value for money case for reinstatement in the country. It was thought 340,000 passengers a year would use a single two-car diesel train running twice an hour to Southampton Central.

But in 2014, Hampshire County Council withdrew support after finding that many passengers would transfer from existing council-subsidised public transport - buses along the parallel A326 road and the Hythe Ferry across Southampton Water.

Rob Humby, the council’s cabinet member for transport, said: “We will consider the case for the reintroduction of passenger rail services alongside other potential measures, such as enhanced bus services, better walking and cycling provision, road enhancements or, most likely, a combination of some or all of these.”