Recently, South Western Railway ran a special fact-finding train to investigate the potential re-opening of the Fawley Branch in Hampshire.
The Fawley Branch last saw a regular passenger service more than 50 years ago.
The special service follows a submission to the Department for Transport's ‘Restoring your Railway Fund' by Hampshire County Council.
The funding will allow Hampshire County Council to complete a feasibility study into reopening the line.
The service became possible through a partnership between South Western Railway and Network Rail, who had to cut back undergrowth, test the condition of the track, and prepare the train crew.
Onboard the train was Rail Minister, Chris Heaton-Harris; Network Rail Chair, Sir Peter Hendy; and representatives from Hampshire County Council and Southampton City Council.
Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris said: “It is almost precisely 95 years since the line between Southampton and Fawley opened. Yet, due to the Beeching cuts, the last time passengers were able to travel this line England were lifting the Jules Rimet.
“While we can't guarantee sporting supremacy again, we've been absolutely clear that we are determined to reconnect communities and level up infrastructure across the country. Taking steps towards restoring passenger journeys on lines like this demonstrates that commitment.
“The progress towards developing a business case for this restoration is testament to the energy and enthusiasm of local campaigners, and I share the passion they and other communities have to reopen and restore local lines.”
Mark Hopwood, Managing Director of South Western Railway said: “Branch lines are vital to connect local communities, with many now out of use. Exploring the possibility of reopening disused lines for rail passengers is vital for us to reconnect our communities again.”
Network Rail Chair Sir Peter Hendy said: “Railways have a huge role to play in building environmentally-sustainable economic and social development and places like Marchwood, where the railway is still in place, are perfect examples of where we can help local communities grow. It's great to see a passenger train down this line again and this has been a really useful event for our partners to understand what we might have to do to bring trains back permanently.”
Councillor Rob Humby, Deputy Leader of Hampshire County Council and Executive Member for Economy, Transport and Environment, said: “Hampshire County Council was very pleased that our bid to the Department for Transport's restoring Your railways Fund was successful and we now look forward to working with the Department for Transport, Network Rail and stakeholders to review the evidence and undertake a business case for re-introducing passenger rail services on the Waterside line.”
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Ironically, the Fawley branch was not recommended by Dr Beeching for closure. Nevertheless, the line was closed to passengers from 14th February 1966.
Bring back the Fawley branch line. Reopen and reinstate railway lines in England that once served the local community before it was closed because of the Beeching Axe in the 1960s. Be good to see former railways to reopen and to be re-born again.
Like Lewes-Uckfield, this one pops up every few years and is then quietly forgotten as soon as the business case falls short of expectations.
However, this line remains virtually intact and new housing developments in the area (including the recently approved 1,500 home development on the former Fawley Power Station site) have greatly improved the potential business case.
Reopening the line would be a massive boost to the area and the fact that Hampshire CC and SWR are so interested is encouraging.
The clincher would probably be a short extension to the new Fawley Waterside development (although the oil refinery is in the way and there is no obvious way around it) but I do think we can be cautiously optimistic this time.
I’d say yes to the reopening of the Fawley branch line and South Western Railway to operate a shuttle service between Southampton Central and Fawley including reopen Marchwood and Hythe (Hants) stations. With using some of the Class 158 & Class 159 DMU trains on the Fawley line.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fawley_branch_line