Expanding Rail Transport Connectivity
In 1908 the Great Western Railway opened what was to be its last main line, Birmingham to Cheltenham via Henley in Arden, Stratford upon Avon and Broadway. The route connected the Midlands with the South West and South Wales, but as it also crossed the Worcester to London Paddington main line at Honeybourne, it provided other connectivity with the Cotswolds, Oxford, the Thames Valley and London Paddington. It directly connected places like Worcester, Evesham, Honeybourne and Long Marston with Stratford upon Avon.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the railways went through a severe decline. In 1969 passenger services south of Stratford upon Avon station ceased. In 1976 following a derailment at Winchcombe, the railway line south of Stratford upon Avon was closed, with just a section of the railway line between Honeybourne and Long Marston remaining connected to the national network and in use.
Since 1999 rail passenger usage has surged to unprecedented levels, and with the compelling environmental benefit of rail over other forms of transport, its future is assured and consequently set to grow. Rail travel provides the UK with a significant means of reducing Co2 emissions and contributes to the country’s Net Zero target.
SLRUG does not want Stratford upon Avon and all the communities along the current Shakespeare Line to be left behind. Consequently, we support the expansion of train services, and to enable that, we support investing in expanding the railway back to at least some of its original capacity so better train services and much greater connectivity can be achieved.
In 2020 four Rail User Groups, which included SLRUG, submitted a bid to the government’s ‘Restoring Your Railway – Reversing Beeching’ programme. The other Rail User Groups were the Stratford Rail Transport Group (SRTG), Cotswold Line Promotion Group (CLPG) and the Solihull and Leamington Spa Rail Users Association (SALRUA).
The Rail User Groups, Wychavon District Council and sponsoring Member of Parliament, Nigel Huddleston, submitted a Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) into reopening the missing section of the railway line between Stratford upon Avon and Long Marston (Honeybourne) that was closed in 1976. Transport Consultants Stantec undertook the work, but a response from the Department for Transport on 17 June 2022 from the then Rail Minister Wendy Morton MP said, “the SOBC did not demonstrate sufficient potential economic benefits of reopening the route between Stratford and Honeybourne to justify taking this project forward.
The Minister went on to say that the SOBC had done well to progress as far as it had but that the RYR fund was oversubscribed and that the assessment process had required to be highly rigorous.
If the missing section of the railway line between Stratford and Long Marston (Honeybourne) were to be reinstated, then the dynamics would change with a significant potential to link Stratford upon Avon once again with the Cotswolds, Oxford, the Thames Valley, the South West and South Wales and an also provide an orbital South/West Midlands train service that could provide direct train services between Evesham and Birmingham, taking about 65 minutes.
SLRUG recognise the environmental considerations of reopening the railway, particularly in the Stratford upon Avon town area and the potential effect on the Greenway. Both these considerations can be overcome, as reopening the line would involve some single track and improvements to the existing Greenway enabling better access points for users. A tunnel in the Evesham Place area of the town would prevent the need to congest this area.
Large-scale housing growth in the Long Marston, East Worcestershire and North Gloucestershire areas was also not referred to in the decision letter from the RYR process, nor have the other potential transport options that the SOBC detailed.
The Stratford-Long Marston-Honeybourne corridor already has a committed population of 60,000, including 25,000 in the Long Marston hinterland and the Long Marston Airfield Garden Village. The Stratford-Evesham-Worcester rail corridor has a committed population of 243,000, while the Stratford-Moreton-Oxford corridor has a committed population of 311,000. The emerging South Warwickshire Local Plan is assessing a possible uplift in the number of homes in the locality of Long Marston Airfield, of circa an additional 3,500 homes, based on the rail corridor.
In addition, the Long Marston Rail Innovation Centre is identified in the South Warwickshire Local Plan as a significant investment site and, by June 2023, had already benefited from over £5 million of investment by the owners Porterbrook.
Consequently, SLRUG supports the reopening of the missing section of the railway between Stratford upon Avon and Long Marston (Honeybourne), as it would provide significantly improved transport connectivity for Stratford upon Avon, South Warwickshire, East Worcestershire and North Gloucestershire.
No freight trains would use the line; it would be used for passenger trains to link local, regional and national locations. Reopening this section of the railway line is about enabling much-improved transport connectivity for local people while unlocking the door to more visitors for Stratford upon Avon and South Warwickshire, helping support its economy while improving the environment by using sustainable transport and reducing vehicular traffic.
SLRUG support Active Travel plans for Stratford upon Avon that encourage walking and cycling, with a proper cycle network across the town, a bus interchange and the use of the two railway stations as hubs for travel to and from other locations.
We are pleased that the West Midlands Rail Investment Strategy 2023-2050 refers to the long-term stakeholder aspiration to reopen the missing railway piece between Stratford upon Avon and Long Marston (Honeybourne). We are further encouraged that WMRE stated to us in May 2023 its willingness to contribute towards the costs of any refresh of the SOBC.
For any real progress to be made, Warwickshire & Worcestershire County Councils must provide a much more effective, positive and robust approach towards rail transport infrastructure.
The opportunities for much better rail connectivity and reopening the missing section of the railway line are illustrated in the accompanying diagram.
Our Faqs
How would it work?
The railway line currently stopping at Stratford upon Avon would extend south by some 6 miles to Long Marston, connecting with a railway line from the Cotswold main line between Worcester, Oxford and London Paddington. The line used to exist until it was disused and lifted in 1976. The alignment of the route remains intact and protected by Stratford on Avon District Council’s Core Strategy Plan, protected explicitly for potential reopening.
Why reopen the railway between Stratford Upon Avon and Honeybourne?
Visitors and the Local Economy
The national average for visitors by rail to other UK visitor destinations comparable with Stratford upon Avon in a year is 12%. At Stratford upon Avon, despite annual rail passenger journeys exceeding 1 million, only 6% of visitors come by rail; that’s half the comparable national average for visitors by rail.
For Stratford upon Avon to attract more visitors and reach the 12% average, which it could easily do, better train services with significantly greater connectivity are needed. Achieving the national average for visitors by rail would mean over 400,000 additional visitors to Stratford upon Avon and South Warwickshire. Using values in the latest Tourist Impact Assessment from Stratford on Avon District Council, an extra 400,000 visitors notionally amount to over £20 million in additional annual income for the local economy, providing significant support, particularly towards the diverse and unique range of town centre businesses.
A reopened railway could provide the ability to operate orbital train services in both directions between Birmingham-Stratford-Evesham-Worcester-Birmingham and connections for South Wales and South West at the new Worcestershire Parkway.
The reopened line would provide the ability to operate direct train services using a 12-mile shorter route between Stratford upon Avon, the Cotswolds, Oxford, Reading, Heathrow Airport and London Paddington.
Wychavon District Council and sponsoring Member of Parliament, Nigel Huddleston, submitted a Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) into reopening the missing section of the railway line between Stratford upon Avon and Long Marston (Honeybourne) that was closed in 1976. Transport Consultants Stantec undertook the work, but the then Rail Minister Wendy Morton MP said, “the SOBC did not demonstrate sufficient potential economic benefits of reopening the route between Stratford and Honeybourne to justify taking this project forward.”
The Minister went on to say that the SOBC had done well to progress as far as it had but that the RYR fund was oversubscribed and that the assessment process had required to be highly rigorous.
Housing, Population Growth and Environment
The scale of proposed housing development between 2018 and 2030 along the existing railway line between Birmingham and Stratford upon Avon, and in the area to the south and west of Stratford upon Avon towards Worcester, exceeds 30,000 new homes with an associated population growth of 69,000. Some of this growth is due to the absorption of increased allocations for new housing being placed on shire districts to assist Birmingham and the West Midlands conurbation.
Much of the employment arising from these proposed developments in this part of the South Midlands will likely derive from Birmingham and the West Midlands (the A435 and A46 corridors). Consequently, there is a need to significantly improve not just train service frequency but better connectivity through adequate railway infrastructure, enabling people to shift from car to train.
The increasing need to reduce harmful emissions caused by vehicular traffic is uppermost in major towns and cities with the greatest concentration of motor vehicles. Birmingham has recognised the emissions issue and will need to invest significantly in better public transport, not just in its immediate vicinity but much further to take in home-to-work commuting journeys.
The Garden Village at Long Marston and other significant levels of new development at Long Marston and closely adjacent in North Gloucestershire and East Worcestershire determine that a Long Marston Parkway rail station could be viable on any reopened line.
A new Parkway station would facilitate a train service between Long Marston and Birmingham City Centre, taking 45/50 minutes. It would also help address latent demand, suppressed because of lack of access to the railway network and factors such as over-subscribed car parking at stations such as Honeybourne.
SLRUG objected to the proposed Garden Village and South Western Relief Road plans submitted to the Local Planning Authority (Stratford on Avon District Council) because the proposals do not contain or mirror any of the elements related to sustainable transport infrastructure and services referenced and included in the original bid made to HM Government to obtain Garden Village status. In addition, we have asked the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to call the planning applications in.
How much support is there for the scheme?
SLRUG carried out two online surveys in the Spring of 2018. One of the questions asked concerned the Stratford-Honeybourne reopening scheme. The question in the survey sought to ascertain the level of support for this scheme to be examined and investigated further.
Over 800 rail users and over 80 town centre businesses from Stratford upon Avon took part, with an overwhelming 94% saying that they wanted an Assessment carried out as soon as possible to properly and objectively determine the viability and feasibility of the scheme.
What assessment has been done so far?
A Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) was commissioned to examine reopening the missing section of the railway line between Stratford upon Avon and Long Marston (Honeybourne) that was closed in 1976. Transport Consultants Stantec undertook the work as part of the HM Government’s “Restoring Your Railway” process. The SOBC did well to progress as far as it eventually did, but the RYR fund was oversubscribed, determining that the assessment process was extremely rigorous with the consequence the SOBC was not promoted.
What are the SLRUG doing about this?
SLRUG support the need to refresh the SOBC so a comprehensive assessment of all aspects of the case can take place. We do not accept the SOBC being dismissed and relegated to the bottom of priorities without tangible and compelling evidence demonstrating a poor or negative economic benefit.
SLRUG’s online surveys in 2018 demonstrate overwhelming support from the general public and Stratford upon Avon town centre businesses for a comprehensive SOBC to determine the feasibility of reopening the railway.
Simultaneously, SLRUG is also pressing to restore direct train services between Oxford and Stratford upon Avon using the existing rail network via Leamington Spa and extending some of the GWR’s London Paddington < > Oxford services.