Fawley Branch Line

Fawley Branch Line
Legend South Western Main Line ( Bournemouth – Southampton ) Totton HounsdownProposed MarchwoodClosed 14 February 1966 Marchwood Military Port Hythe Pier, Railway and Ferry HytheClosed 14 February 1966 Hardley HaltClosed 5 April 1965 FawleyClosed 14 February 1966 Fawley Refinery

The Fawley Branch Line, also known as the Waterside Line is a standard gauge railway line to Fawley, in the English county of Hampshire. It is on the opposite side of Southampton Water from the city of Southampton itself, in an area known as Waterside. For forty years a passenger service operated, but this was withdrawn and now, with the exception of the occasional enthusiasts' railtour, the line serves the freight needs of Fawley Refinery and Marchwood Military Port.

History

Authorised in 1903, after some years of trying, the line was built under the Light Railways Act 1896 by the Fawley, Hythe and Marchwood Light Railway and opened on 20 July 1925. At first, traffic was light but in the 1920s the largest oil refinery in Britain opened at Fawley and subsequently expanded. The line opened under the Southern Railway and then to British Railways (Southern Region) at nationalisation in 1948.

The route

Leaving the South Western Main Line at Totton, west of Southampton, the line can be seen from Bournemouth-bound trains running alongside the main line for a mile and then curving away to the south. The passenger service served Marchwood,^[1] Hythe,^[2] and Fawley.^[3] Operated by steam trains, then the 'Hampshire' diesel-electric multiple units, the service was withdrawn on 14 February 1966 as a result of the Beeching Axe.

Future

On June 16, 2009, Association of Train Operating Companies announced it was looking into the reopening of the railway as far as Hythe, with a possibility of going far as Fawley which would be subject to Esso who owns the land where Fawley railway station once was.

Plans would see;

1. Reopening of all the old station along the line.
2. A new station in Totton called Totton West, which would be just after the line splits from the mainline.
3. A new railway service going between Fawley/Hythe to Totton - Southampton Central - Southampton Airport Parkway - Eastleigh - Chandlers Ford - Romsey - Southampton Central - Totton to Fawley/Hythe, plus all other minor stops in-between the stations above.

The railway link could be built over the next 5 to 10 years at a cost of around £3 Million, the service would be run by South West Trains running diesel multiple units and if the railway pays for itself, there would be a possibility of electrification. The service would run every half-hourly during peak and every hour at non-peak.^[4][5][6][7]

On November 8, 2013 Councillor David Harrison of Totton and Marchwood was able to get hold of the finale GRIP 3 Study report and shared it via his website.^[8] In the report it was stated that the service would be every half-hourly using DMU's (Diesel Multiple Units), calling at all stop's between Hythe and Southampton, including a new station called Hounsdown, which was planned to be called Totton West, a new passing loop would need to be installed at Hounsdown to allow passing of freight and passenger trains, other upgrades includes AWS/TPWS and signalling, due to security reasons at the oil refinery, Fawley Station will not be reopened as part of the scheme. It has been pointed out that there maybe some negatives to this scheme, if the Waterside Line gets the green light, subsidy from Hampshire County Council for the Southampton & Hythe Ferry service is likely to loose it's current funding, also the local bus companies who operate in the area may also loose some of their subsidy.^[9]

On January 21 2014, Hampshire County Council decided to shelve the plans to reopen the line, the council report came down against committing further funding for the scheme due to the poor value for money business case, although it said the authority should review the position should local circumstances change.^[10]

References

Further reading

• R.V.J.Butt, (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Patrick Stephens Ltd.  ISBN 1-85260-508-1
• J.R.Fairman, (2002). The Fawley Branch. Oakwood Press.  ISBN 0-85361-584-5

External links

• Line on navigable O.S. map

Coordinates: 50°52′18″N 1°24′44″W / 50.8718°N 1.4121°W / 50.8718; -1.4121