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Title: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: ellendune on July 27, 2013, 14:54:04 Didcot to Southampton railway to re-open (http://www.thisishampshire.net/news/10572766._/?) Quote Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway RAILWAY enthusiasts are hoping to reopen a long-closed Hampshire railway line. The Didcot to Southampton Railway, axed in the Beeching cuts of the 1960s, ran through Newbury to Winchester which is connected with the mainline at Shawford. Rex Hora, chairman of Didcot, Newbury & Southampton Railway Revival, said the predicted increase in freight traffic meant that the idea was feasible. Mr Hora admitted that much of the track has been built on but that in the long-term it will be needed to cope with the growth in freight traffic between Southampton Docks and the Midlands. He said that although the Southampton-Winchester-Basingstoke-Reading line has been upgraded for larger containers, it still has only two tracks so its capacity is limited. Once the former line is re-opened for freight there will be the opportunity for direct passenger services between Oxford, Newbury and Winchester, without the need to go via Reading. Mr Hora said the priority was the northern section between Didcot and Whitchurch. He said: ^In an ideal world we would like to open the whole line. South of Whitchurch we might have to go for a detour via Salisbury. ^The main argument is freight traffic from Southampton to the Midlands. At the moment it goes through Winchester but the line is nearing capacity. They are either going to have to consider upgrading to four tracks or having a separate route, perhaps via Salisbury, at some stage in the next couple of decades.^ Chris Webb is a member of the Friends of Hockley Viaduct which campaigned for the viaduct south of Winchester to be restored and reopened for public use. Mr Webb said: ^It^s far too late. Much of the track bed has been obliterated, by the Newbury bypass, the A34 at Litchfield near Whitchurch and at Kings Worthy. At Bar End there is the Chesil multi-storey car park and the Stagecoach depot. ^To recreate it now would be very difficult and very expensive. I think it is a dodo.^ I fear I must agree with the last comment. It never should have been closed, but it was never run as a through route for freight or passengers. It was always run as a branch line. So it never achieved its potential. If you want a separate route the Midland & South Western Junction from Swindon to Andover might be a more practical bet. Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: Electric train on July 27, 2013, 15:01:55 I don't think the flat junction at Didcot did any favours either. I think they will struggle to get it rebuilt the A34 sits on quite a lot of it and some of the cuttings have been used for landfill.
If it had remained today now doubt it would be a busy route Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: Lee on July 27, 2013, 15:12:28 Quote from: Chris Webb ^To recreate it now would be very difficult and very expensive. I think it is a dodo.^ Woah, not so fast. Can I get a Squirrel Formula quote? ;D Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: paul7575 on July 27, 2013, 15:43:53 Rex Hora aka R Hoaxer... ::)
Some gullible journalists around... Paul Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: Electric train on July 27, 2013, 17:07:11 Oh and here's the website, its been around for a couple of years.
http://dnsrr.angelfire.com/ (http://dnsrr.angelfire.com/) Like "The New S & D Rly" group I admire their optimism :) Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: bobm on July 27, 2013, 17:20:39 Rex Hora aka R Hoaxer... ::) Some gullible journalists around... Paul No he really exists - I lived half a dozen doors away from him for much of my childhood. Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: paul7575 on July 27, 2013, 17:30:08 Rex Hora aka R Hoaxer... ::) Some gullible journalists around... Paul No he really exists - I lived half a dozen doors away from him for much of my childhood. You surprise me. It's completely hypothetical though, and hanging this idea on 'freight capacity' flies in the face of everything NR have published in the last few years. They already have their plans to deal with extra freight from Southampton, they've said the route via Laverstock and Andover will take some extra freight, and after that they'll gauge clear via Westbury and Melksham... In any case one of the stated main aims is to allow 25 kV haulage of freight from Southampton to the midlands and I think DfT and NR have already got that covered... Paul Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: grahame on July 27, 2013, 18:49:24 It's completely hypothetical though, and hanging this idea on 'freight capacity' flies in the face of everything NR have published in the last few years. They already have their plans to deal with extra freight from Southampton, they've said the route via Laverstock and Andover will take some extra freight, and after that they'll gauge clear via Westbury and Melksham... In any case one of the stated main aims is to allow 25 kV haulage of freight from Southampton to the midlands and I think DfT and NR have already got that covered... And it would be orders of magnitude cheaper to redouble that existing line that was singled as late as the 1960s than to re-instate the other lines mentioned which (I think) were never double tracked throughout. And a double track, shared with hourly / half hourly passenger trains, is going to have much more capacity than a single track. Your issue with a "via Swindon" scenario on a double track TransWilts is going to be Royal Wootton Bassett to Didcot capacity. But then if the wires also go from Bristol to Birmingham and you have four tracks up Filton Bank Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: eightf48544 on July 27, 2013, 19:51:40 The DNS is a classic example of what you can do with a railway line if you are fighting a World War.
During WW2 it was doubled from Didcot to Newbury and station loops lengthened South of Newbury. Plus an additonal junctio from the LSWR mainline north of Winchester in case the viaduct South of Winchester Chesil was bombed. See Glasson. I never travelled on it although I did get to Winchester Chesil from Southmpton. I also saw City of Truo at Eastleigh on a DNS train when it was shedded at Didcot in the late 50s and operating on the main line. Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: TonyK on July 27, 2013, 19:52:54 But then if the wires also go from Bristol to Birmingham and you have four tracks up Filton Bank Despite the apparent truncation, I agree entirely. Four Track, Now!, I say. The Electric Spine, shown in HLOS, is intended to increase capacity from Southampton to practically anywhere. Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: didcotdean on July 27, 2013, 22:07:43 This website (http://www.hampsteadnorreys.org.uk/History/Railway_History.html) includes an amateur film of a journey from Newbury to Didcot in the year of closure to regular passenger service.
I note that they have accepted that the alignment in Didcot itself has completely gone. This site (http://www.geograph.org.uk/article/The-DidcotNewbury-and-Southampton-Line/1) looks at the recent state of the whole route. Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: Red Squirrel on July 28, 2013, 00:18:01 Quote from: Chris Webb ^To recreate it now would be very difficult and very expensive. I think it is a dodo.^ Woah, not so fast. Can I get a Squirrel Formula quote? ;D I'm sayin' nuffin. Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: IndustryInsider on July 28, 2013, 11:45:20 Thinking about it though, this could form part of a new main line linking Southampton and Aberystwyth via Newbury, Didcot, Cirencester, Monmouth, and Carmarthen. Yours for under the cost of the current HS2 proposals. Just. ;)
Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: didcotdean on July 28, 2013, 13:24:58 They could build the started but not completed Compton to East Ilsley branch line too ....
Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: Red Squirrel on July 28, 2013, 14:26:01 Thinking about it though, this could form part of a new main line linking Southampton and Aberystwyth via Newbury, Didcot, Cirencester, Monmouth, and Carmarthen. Yours for under the cost of the current HS2 proposals. Just. ;) You left out Padstow... maybe a tunnel from Padstow to the Mumbles, via Lundy? Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: TonyK on July 28, 2013, 19:16:29 Instead of Lundy, you could go via Instow, Barnstaple, Woody Bay to Ilfracombe, then over the Severn Barrage. Should be popular with almost nobody, so stands a chance.
Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: chuffed on July 28, 2013, 19:27:16 As we seem to have drifted into fantasy land , how about a third Severn crossing from Royal Portbury dock with a service station on Denny island ....that may get some people scratching their heads.....and joining the present M4 just west of the present M4 toll booths so we English don't have to pay for the privilege of entering the Principality? I suppose it might be mistaken by pilots who are more used to landing in San Francisco, as the runway for Severnside airport. Trouble is , if you whisper these crackpot schemes to those in the DafT corridors of power, they actually then go ahead and build them!
Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: grahame on July 28, 2013, 19:50:56 Shall we bring ourselves a little back on track ... we appear to have slid on from the unlikely (but then re-opening of the Waverley route was unlikely at the time it was ripped up) to the impractical. Let's just keep one eye open to the thoughts that the promoters of these unlikely schemes may turn out to be (a) more farsighted than we are and (b) readers of the forum!
Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: ellendune on July 28, 2013, 20:11:13 Having read one of the links on their website which reviews the trackbed between Didcot and Newbury (http://www.geograph.org.uk/article/The-DidcotNewbury-and-Southampton-Line (http://www.geograph.org.uk/article/The-DidcotNewbury-and-Southampton-Line)), it seems that more of the North Section has survived than I had thought.
However I think that south of Newbury most of it is under the A34. The new viaduct at Reading is designed to provide additional capacity on this route. A restored DN&S would need a flyover junction at Didcot as well as a new route from Newbury southwards. Once Reading is done surely the capacity problems are Didcot to Oxford and the route from Basingstoke through Winchester to Eastliegh. The promoters correctly identify the alternative route for this section as from Salisbury through Romsey. If there is capacity between Whitchurch and Salisbury then surely an improvement between Basingstoke and the Junction between the Salisbury/Winchester lines (sorry forgotten its name) would be much cheaper than reopening the DN&S to Newbury and a new route from Newbury to Whitchurch. Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: paul7575 on July 28, 2013, 20:33:28 Once Reading is done surely the capacity problems are Didcot to Oxford and the route from Basingstoke through Winchester to Eastliegh. The promoters correctly identify the alternative route for this section as from Salisbury through Romsey. If there is capacity between Whitchurch and Salisbury then surely an improvement between Basingstoke and the Junction between the Salisbury/Winchester lines (sorry forgotten its name) would be much cheaper than reopening the DN&S to Newbury and a new route from Newbury to Whitchurch. There is capacity for at least 2 freights per hour from Basingstoke to Southampton via Andover, Laverstock (Salisbury) and Romsey, it's covered in the South Hants freight section of the London and SE RUS (page 217). West of Basingstoke station the line is already four tracked as far as Worting Junction. (Worting Jn provides the fast/slow crossovers and Battledown flyover provides the necessary grade separation of the Up Southampton route.) They already have plans to put in an up direction freight loop just west of Basingstoke station to allow long freight trains to be regulated there. The future pinch point will therefore be routeing down direction freights over the flat junction at Basingstoke station's east end, and I believe there's a solution in mind for this, involving a bypass line on the north side of the station, alongside the Reading bay platform. I think they'll manage without the DNS... Paul Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: John R on July 28, 2013, 21:43:14 And there's also the option of running via Warminster, Westbury, Melksham and Swindon. Upgrading that route would be a lot cheaper, and indeed, still appears to be a viable option given the relatively light passenger use between Southampton and Westbury, and onwards to Chippenham. The loss of Didcot coal traffic will have released many slots on the only heavily used section between Wootton Bassett and Didcot.
Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: grahame on July 28, 2013, 22:15:56 And there's also the option of running via Warminster, Westbury, Melksham and Swindon. For the cost of 3 or 4 miles of the DNS (and not the difficult miles), you'll redouble Thingley to Bradford, add a fourth platform at Westbury, resignal the Warmsinter - Salisbury section which has very long headways on it, add extra track at Romsey so that the passenger train turnback isn't done on the main line (arrangement like Bedwyn?) and bring the fourth through platform at Salisbury back into use. You may need layby / loop resilience increasing - Salibsury, Westbury, Swindon are obvious candidates. Chippenham would be another if it weren't for all those car parks! I suspect you might need to do something on the main line to the west of Didcot due to the speed differential of the freight and passenger trains; to the west and south of Royal Wootton Bassett you're probably set for 2 to 4 passenger trains and 2 to 4 freight trains in each direction each hour. ERTMS may increase capacity too, but if you're looking at more trains even than this, it may indeed be a (re)newed route that provides a solution. Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: John R on July 28, 2013, 22:28:52 And you forgot electrify of course. (The current diversionary route via Laverstock isn't going to be much use once the "Electric Spine" is in place, even with the current work to increase clearances on it.)
West of Didcot is interesting. There used to be another set of loops until a few years ago when they were abolished and replaced by a second set in a more practical position, but I presume they could be relatively easily reinstated. However, loops almost certainly mean the freights have to stop and start, which increases energy consumption significantly. So a route that could give a reliable journey with fewer stops would be more attractive to the freight operator. Not sure whether that would be via Basingstoke or Westbury. Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: bobm on July 28, 2013, 22:34:19 West of Didcot is interesting. There used to be another set of loops until a few years ago when they were abolished and replaced by a second set in a more practical position, but I presume they could be relatively easily reinstated. Which loops were they - the ones at Uffington or were there ones near where the Milton Trading Estate is now before the Wantage Road/Challow ones? Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: ellendune on July 28, 2013, 23:28:40 And you forgot electrify of course. (The current diversionary route via Laverstock isn't going to be much use once the "Electric Spine" is in place, even with the current work to increase clearances on it.) I am assuming we are just waiting for a later stage of electrification. West of Didcot is interesting. There used to be another set of loops until a few years ago when they were abolished and replaced by a second set in a more practical position, but I presume they could be relatively easily reinstated. However, loops almost certainly mean the freights have to stop and start, which increases energy consumption significantly. So a route that could give a reliable journey with fewer stops would be more attractive to the freight operator. Not sure whether that would be via Basingstoke or Westbury. The Wantage to Challow loop was reinstated in the '90s. There was a Shrivenham loop that was quite long as well. It is these long loops that allow freight trains not to have to stop. Ultimately I suspect all of the line from Didcot to Swindon will be 4 tracked except for perhaps a short section through Steventon. This was the GWR plan in the 1930's, they just never got to finish it. Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: John R on July 29, 2013, 22:27:55 West of Didcot is interesting. There used to be another set of loops until a few years ago when they were abolished and replaced by a second set in a more practical position, but I presume they could be relatively easily reinstated. Which loops were they - the ones at Uffington or were there ones near where the Milton Trading Estate is now before the Wantage Road/Challow ones? Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: bobm on July 29, 2013, 22:38:40 I remember trying to find a vantage point to photograph the loops after a trip to White Horse Hill.
If memory serves wasn't Uffington once the boundary between the old Reading Panel box and the one at Swindon? Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: TonyK on July 30, 2013, 20:28:02 Shall we bring ourselves a little back on track ... we appear to have slid on from the unlikely (but then re-opening of the Waverley route was unlikely at the time it was ripped up) to the impractical. Let's just keep one eye open to the thoughts that the promoters of these unlikely schemes may turn out to be (a) more farsighted than we are and (b) readers of the forum! Sorry, Sir. Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: grahame on July 08, 2014, 05:02:12 http://www.basingstokegazette.co.uk/news/11324957._/?
Quote THE re-opening of a long-lost Hampshire railway, which runs through Whitchurch, has come a small step closer, following a public meeting. Fifteen people attended the meeting in Newbury, organised by Didcot, Newbury & Southampton Railway Revival (DNSRR). The restored railway would improve transport links in the Didcot-Winchester corridor and provide additional capacity for freight traffic between Southampton and the Midlands. At Oxford, it would also link to East West Rail, currently under construction, giving simple access to Aylesbury, Milton Keynes, and Bedford, and, eventually, to Cambridge. [article continues with some detail] Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: Red Squirrel on July 08, 2014, 10:58:58 Quote ...the mood at the meeting was generally supportive. There were fifteen people there, and they were generally supportive... Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: paul7575 on July 08, 2014, 12:15:47 Another 'solution without a problem'.
At the risk of sounding like a stuck record, as mentioned on the previous page, NR already have published achievable plans to cope with freight increases to Southampton, including operating some trains via Salisbury and Andover in the medium term, and in the longer term some via Salisbury, Westbury and Melksham. This re-opening has absolutely no chance of happening IMHO - joining the SWML at Winchester would just put more trains down the 2 track bottleneck that is Winchester station itself, because the route via Winchester Chesil is no longer available thanks to the A34 and the M3, that's even if they could ever get round Newbury... Paul Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: TonyK on July 08, 2014, 18:15:30 Quote ...the mood at the meeting was generally supportive. There were fifteen people there, and they were generally supportive... I agree - unless they were 15 engineers, transport experts, Southampton dock directors and folks of that ill, it hardly augurs well. The cause will not have been advanced. Building alongside the A34 may be feasible - Manchester's excellent Metrolink extension to the airport, soon to open over a year early, follows a motorway for part of its length. So it is worth these enthusiasts, these few, this band of brothers, working up plans. Given the learned comments on these pages, though, their efforts may serve only to show that cheaper alternatives are available. The problem is capacity for freight from a growing Southampton port, not enabling a few passengers to travel from Oxford to Winchester without passing through Basingstoke. Electrification between Bristol Parkway and Birmingham will surely come one day. It may have no effect on this argument, though. Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: grahame on April 20, 2020, 16:55:57 6 years since there was last a post in this thread ... though I think the idea isn't as absurd as it once was with even increasing traffic (until last month anyway) until last month from Southampton to The North.
From my 1960 timetable ... (http://www.wellho.net/oldpix/2020_04_20_15_20_16/image00017.jpg) Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: bobm on April 20, 2020, 17:04:51 Just to note Rex Hora, the spokesman for the Didcot, Newbury & Southampton Railway Revival group, quoted in the earlier newspaper article died last November.
Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: CyclingSid on April 21, 2020, 06:56:17 Just to note, that as Marlburian has noted elsewhere W Berks Council is supporting the section north of Newbury becoming a cycle/footpath.
Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: Reading General on April 25, 2020, 13:13:04 When I discovered this line in the mid to late 80's, as there was so much infrastructure including complete stations left, I though it would have made a wonderful heritage line akin to the watercress line, at least from Didcot to Compton. However, as I delved a little deeper, key parts in the settlements, including the trackbed at Hampstead Norreys (Norris to the railway), had been obliterated to the point it was difficult to see where the line went. Beyond settlements, the trackbed was pretty much complete, which reinforced the belief that it could reopen. Over time, more and more of the line has been built on, cuttings filled in with rubbish and bridges removed to the point that it is difficult to believe that a railway was ever there. Nevertheless, there is still plenty to see and plenty of trackbed and bridges and this is why I would support a complete cycleway from Didcot to Newbury. The Diddy to the first station south, Upton and Blewbury, is already a fantastic tarmac cycle path that runs high up on an embankment in places that gives an insight as to what riding on a train along that stretch was like. The new section of path from Hampstead Norreys to Hermitage is open and already proving quite popular. So just a few gaps to fill in if you can get people living next to the trackbed onside. I've roughly done the line on foot between Didcot and Newbury but it would be nice to be able to do it as close as possibly to the former permanent way.
Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: ellendune on April 25, 2020, 13:48:22 I remember the level crossing gates on the A417 at Upton in the 1960's and 70's
Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: eightf48544 on April 26, 2020, 11:31:12 My paternal Grandmother met my grandfather at West Woody House when he was convalescing during WW!. After WW2 she lived in Southampton and used to tell me about taking the DNS to Woodhay to visit old friends. i also recall seeing City of Truro at Eastleigh on a DNS train. When it had it's spell working from Didcot
Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: IndustryInsider on April 26, 2020, 13:49:17 From my 1960 timetable ... A sensible commuting option from Didcot to Newbury arriving at 08:21 and departing at 17:45. Oh, no, hang on - the 17:45 only runs on Saturdays! Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: Reading General on April 26, 2020, 14:18:31 What sort of service would we see today if the line between Didcot and Newbury remained? An hourly service with a passing place at Hampstead Norreys (Norris)? This could be an extension of the Reading to Newbury stopping service reversing at Newbury. I would think there wouldn't be through running at Didcot to avoid crossing the main line.
Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: grahame on April 26, 2020, 15:46:57 What sort of service would we see today if the line between Didcot and Newbury remained? An hourly service with a passing place at Hampstead Norreys (Norris)? This could be an extension of the Reading to Newbury stopping service reversing at Newbury. I would think there wouldn't be through running at Didcot to avoid crossing the main line. I doubt it would be an extension of Reading to Newbury as that's electric. We've already seen that the official verdict on extending electrification to Bedwyn was "not worth it" and even extending from Didcot to Oxford was halted. Perhaps Hanborough to Bedwyn. Not sure how you would avoid crossing or at least joining the main line at Didcot - no bay at the south side and I suspect not space for one. I don't think the DN&S ever had commuting options, did it? I suspect it was always a think service. Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: Reading General on April 26, 2020, 16:45:07 There was a bay at Didcot which would have been retained I guess. Had the line survived we probably wouldn't have seen much interaction with any junctions with it at Didcot, except for perhaps stock movements. Commuting to London in particular wouldn't have seen much unless you had a reversing DMU at either end but possibly Hermitage and Upton could have seen some with passengers changing at Newbury or Didcot respectively. A through train from Reading possibly would have helped passenger traffic develop in the British Rail/Network SouthEast days if the DMU stopper had reversed at Newbury but, like you say, that would have been severed upon electrification. Nevertheless if it had ridden out those days it could have reshaped the Newbury or Didcot of today and Hermitage would probably be a much larger village.
Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: didcotdean on April 26, 2020, 17:11:01 The railway alignment in Didcot itself was used for much of Hitchcock Way which forms the main E-W route on to the east of the town. The place where the railway used to cross Broadway is more or less exactly at the Jubilee Roundabout (Aldi), which reveals itself the rough date of construction as 1977 (the development of houses built to the south of this have the roads named after Royal houses and palaces). The cycleway starts the other side of Broadway. There was actually a short siding off the mainline just before the DN&S split; the name of the industrial estate there now preserves the name of Rich's Sidings.
Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: ellendune on April 26, 2020, 21:16:26 The problem with the DN&S is that it was never treated as a trunk route (except for a short time in the mid 1940's). It should have been the through route for the Midlands and Northern traffic to Southampton, but that was always, as now, routed through Reading and Basingstoke.
The GCR tried running through that way, but did not want to upset the L&SWR so carried on with the route through Reading which gave the L&SWR more of the traffic. As a local passenger or goods service it struggled to pay its way, yet it had so much more potential. Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: Reading General on April 26, 2020, 21:34:42 I'm reading one of the books about it now and it appears it was even stifled in the British Rail years. There was never much attempt to encourage more passenger journeys.
Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: ray951 on April 27, 2020, 10:36:21 What sort of service would we see today if the line between Didcot and Newbury remained? An hourly service with a passing place at Hampstead Norreys (Norris)? This could be an extension of the Reading to Newbury stopping service reversing at Newbury. I would think there wouldn't be through running at Didcot to avoid crossing the main line. As someone who lives in Didcot (and use to live in Newbury), what surpises me as even though Newbury is the next nearest town south of Didcot and the A34 is very busy there is no public transport between these two places. Unless of course you count going via Reading on the train which would take 2 - 3 times longer than driving. So is there any demand for such a service and if there is, why is there not a bus service between them? Title: Re: Campaign to reopen Didcot to Southampton railway Post by: grahame on April 27, 2020, 11:06:46 The problem with the DN&S is that it was never treated as a trunk route (except for a short time in the mid 1940's). It should have been the through route for the Midlands and Northern traffic to Southampton, but that was always, as now, routed through Reading and Basingstoke. Here's the 1934 summer timetable - so before your dates - showing via footnote a service that connects with the ship from (Le) Havre, runs up the DNS with through carriages to Glasgow and Edinburgh (and Scarborough on Saturdays). Leaving Southampton Docks at 07:05, it took 3 hours to cover less than 60 miles to Newbury ... must have been a real joy for continental travellers as they stopped to look at the beautiful scenery at Worthy Down Platform and Pinewood Halt. (http://www.wellho.net/pix/dns1934.jpg) This page is printed from the "Coffee Shop" forum at http://gwr.passenger.chat which is provided by a customer of Great Western Railway. Views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that content provided contravenes our posting rules ( see http://railcustomer.info/1761 ). The forum is hosted by Well House Consultants - http://www.wellho.net |