GWSR General Discussion and Operations

A usually accurate news site has reported that a number of railway lines could be rebuilt and that thinktank Greengauge21 has also thrown its support behind, amongst others, is the "Stratford upon Avon to Cheltenham via Honeybourne".
To me, that sounds as if it includes the GWSR.

Have I misinterpreted this?

 

Very mixed emotions about that, if it were to happen. From the broader society's point of view, it might be good - but from the preservation world, it would be an extraordinarily heavy blow. (Ironically, in some ways the inverse of the Robertsbridge re-instatement.) After all the work that has gone into the GWSR - including especially Broadway. To be able to look at that, and see the work of those who are no longer with us - there's no amount of compensation money that could make up for that.

Noel

 

This might help.

http://www.greengauge21.net/missing-main-lines/

 

Reading about this idea, several lines come to mind. Down my way, were the Uckfield - Lewes line and Eridge (Ashurst curve) - Tunbridge Wells reinstated, which the unreliable and overburdened network would benefit from, both the Lavender Line and Spa Valley would be lost. Alternative locations exist, but so do the considerations Noel mentions.

Given the enthusiastic propensity of the Scottish Parliament for rail reinstatements, I'm surprised we've heard no such concerns from north of the border.

 

Can't wait for them to throw their annual Cotswolds Festival Of Steam next year!

I've had particular fascination with the Somerset & Dorset, also it's been FAR too long since I visited them.

 

I believe there has been bidding for funds to develop cases for re-opening. Personally I can't see the Treasury actually supporting such re-openings in the current climate. Happy to be wrong in a few cases (e.g. North Devon line), and why doesn't Guildford to Cranleigh ever get a mention?
Pat

 

It seems to me to be that as soon as there is talk of railway reopenings people immediately start to think of their pet WIBN projects and rarely stop to think to themselves "Is there a real need, and who would use it?" - and even if they do ask themselves those questions they fail to ask another all-important one - would people be prepared to give up their personal transportation, and if they were, wouldn't a better tailored bus service meet their needs less expensively? Unless we're talking about a trunk route or a suburban commuter line I don't think that a reinstated railway is normally a viable answer.

 

The 'report' is from 2015.

There are not 'full re-opening plans' for Stratford-Cheltenham, nor the other lines mentioned, Exeter-Plymouth & Oxford-Cambridge.
To Okehampton has been done, & there are no plans to go any further. Past Bedford will be a new alignment, & the overall project keeps getting cut back.


A proposal, with support from local authorities, is to re-open Stratford-Honeybourne. That is it.

There is zero interest in building/re-building diversionary routes, as they would be so little used that the finances don't stack up.
Stratford has no interest in links to Cheltenham.
If people in Cheltenham want HS2, then they'd get a faster train to Birmingham New St. If they want London, then there's direct trains.

Freight from Daventry? The junctions on the way all face the wrong way.
DRIFT has south-facing connections. You would then have to reverse at Coventry & Leamington.


I'm not going to say it will never happen, but there's loads of projects & schemes that are being properly looked at that will take many many years to do, before getting anywhere near looking at re-opening to Cheltenham.

 

Further to @RichardBrum's dangerously radical outbreak of common sense and at risk of stating the obvious, I'd just add the observation that, when considering viability of reopening proposals, large scale housing and industrial developments need to be kept in mind.

Such a project in Tavistock is being undertaken in tandem with reopening the line from Bere Alston (which closes the trackless gap between there and (Meldon and the soon to be working railway at) Okehampton by seven miles, leaving around 15 miles to fully reinstate and a couple more to rehabilitate to recreate a second route between Exeter and Plymouth. Does that make a stealth reopening of the route more likely? Dunno, but it certainly dodsn't make it harder.

Another post mentioned junctions whose historic layout (or historic absence) would render them unsuited to likely modern requirements. Precisely such a problem existed and was resolved to take passenger services from Oxford to London Marylebone, via Bicester. So, Involved? Yes. Expensive? Yes. Impossible? Depends on the location and whether there's a sensible economic case.

 

Having had accommodation booked for the gala which then got moved back a couple of weeks we decided to still go anyway, Saturday was at the Severn Valley and Sunday at the GWSR, a short video featuring 4270 & DMU which were in action that day, with luck we will be back for a gala next year...

 

For those who hadn't noticed, the GWSR Drainage Gang blog (now renamed to 'GWSR Estates Management — Drainage') has sprung back to life after a longish hiatus, and a large backlog of coverage has been posted, which should keep people happily reading for quite a while. Really good to see it back; thanks to Andrew et al for all the time and energy required to create those lengthy, detailed and interesting posts! They are very much appreciated!

(Also, a Terminology page has appeared, for those who are puzzled by terms like 'counterfort drain'.)

Noel

 

As a Shareholder, I received a letter today advising of an Emergency Appeal to raise £200,000 over the next 2 months to repair Bridge 8 (near Stanton). They are hoping to do the work during January & February whilst the line is shut - hence the urgent need for money now.
Steelwork deterioration again, as for the GCR bridges, and dating from the same sort of construction period as well, give or take 10 years or so.

 

I've seen it mentioned elsewhere that they have raised just over half (£101K) of the money required for the repairs to Bridge 8, though I couldn't find mention of either the appeal or progress with it anywhere obvious on the GWSR website...

 

not sure where you have looked but its clear enough on their home page

 

For some obscure reason, that rather obvious yellow box about it didn't come up when I first looked at the GWSR website. Came up perfectly on it when I logged into the site again though after seeing your comment !!
Aren't computers wonderful....

 

Considering most routes that either run through or to Guildford have never closed, would their even be a need to reopen one route which you can easily get to by bus.

 

Cranleigh then was more of a quite rural backwater, as were many of the places then served, Had the line not closed I doubt very much if by now it would even be considered for closure as now its very hard to see where Guildford actually stops and Cranleigh starts,

 

Out of interest, is this the 'engineering works' referred to south of Winchcombe that are closing the line at the moment or are there more works planned?

 

At the time of closure there was a Guildford - Cranleigh service, as well as the Horsham trains. It was only 1 or 2 trains, but a sign of extra need. Cranleigh was also earmarked for expansion, so closing the railway was yet another triumph of joined-up thinking. (Makes me wonder sometimes, or often, what we pay civil servants for, when they make such idiotic decisions.)
Pat

 

Separate works. The appeal is for bridge repairs at Stanton (The one with traffic lights on) between Toddington and Broadway, where the steel deck is corroding. Hopefully that should happen January/February 2022. The works at Winchcombe are to resolve the landslip in the cutting caused by the new-build houses, the costs of which I believe are being footed by builders/insurers rather than us. The big concrete "lego blocks" were the temporary solution installed some time ago as a stop-gap measure.