Calls are being made for improvements to the North Cotswold Line, which will bring economic growth across the region and increase rail services.
The line that runs from Oxford to Hereford via Kingham and Worcester currently faces ongoing challenges with infrastructure that is ageing and is susceptible to failure, while the capacity of the line is currently restricted due to British Rail’s plan to single parts of what was already a double track mainline railway in the early 1970s.
In an attempt to reverse some decisions made in the 1970s and upgrade the infrastructure along the 86.5 mile line, Lord Faulkner is leading The North Cotswold Task Force with Worcestershire County Council and partnering organisations, which is supporting the case to re-double the single sections of line and replace existing infrastructure and the signalling system which has the backing of several local authorities.
The line plays a key part in linking the Cotswolds to London while serving the cities of Hereford, Worcester and Oxford, along with several towns which have the potential to grow with a better and less restricted rail service.
The line plays a major role when it comes to commuters travelling between the towns and cities for work, but the line is also very popular with tourism, as the Cotswolds see thousands of visitors every year.
The investment would not only benefit and grow communities and businesses along the line, it will also maximise the potential of East-West Rail as passengers can change at Oxford to reach the Cotswolds or travel further into Wales, which would open up newer routes and direct cross-country services.
Preliminary steps have already been taken, a Strategic Outline Business Case was submitted to the government in 2020, which now requires funding.
Councillor Simon Geraghty, Leader of Worcestershire County Council, said: “The improvements to the North Cotswold Line are imperative to support the growth of Worcestershire’s local and visitor economy by supporting sustainable travel by rail.
As Worcestershire is a growing county, the improvements would provide enhanced connectivity through more frequent and quicker services to key destinations along the line, improving connectivity, to and from, destinations such as Oxford and London.”
Responses
There may be a case for re-doubling of the route in certain places, but the signalling, particularly around Worcester, was only re-jigged a few years ago. We do not really need a complete re-signalling of the route; the semaphore signals are perfectly adequate and actually a good deal more reliable than MAS. The current number of failures of MAS across the country is ridiculous and when it wears out it is enormously expensive to replace, whereas semaphore signalling goes on and on with fairly inexpensive replacement of parts without large disruption to services. So lets keep the semaphore signalling and just go for some re-doubling of track along this route.
The photo at the top of the article doesn’t say which station it is. It is credited to West Midlands Railways, but that company doesn’t serve the Oxford to Worcester line.
Worcester Shrub Hill. Served by both GWR and West Mid Trains.