Spring hopes for Rother Valley Railway Transport & Works Act Order decision

IT IS anticipated that a decision will be made on the Rother Valley Railway’s (RVR) Transport & Works Act Order application by the second quarter of 2022. The public inquiry finished on September 3. Gardner Crawley, chairman of the RVR Heritage Trust said: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who wrote in support of the Bodiam to Robertsbridge reconnection project. Many of you wrote to express your backing for the RVR’s application for a Transport and Works Act Order, and several of you gave evidence during the public inquiry this summer, all of which was greatly appreciated by the Trustees. “We are now in the hands of the inspector who will write his report to the Secretary of State for Transport and anticipate his decision will be made around spring or summer of next year.” As previously reported, the proposed order has been applied for by the RVR, working in partnership with the Kent & East Sussex Railway, which operates the existing heritage line between Tenterden and Bodiam. The project is to replace the missing link between Bodiam and Robertsbridge, a station on the Tonbridge to Hastings main line. The RVR has established a base at Robertsbridge, which has included relaying the line up to Northbridge Street.