Disappointment as plans to reinstate Waterside railway scrapped by government

PLANS to reinstate the Waterside railway have been scrapped, the government has confirmed, leaving campaigners “disappointed”.

As reported in the A&T, Network Rail previously confirmed it was looking at the possibility of resuming passenger services twice hourly from Totton to Marchwood and Hythe, with the potential to carry on to Fawley.

Campaigners hoping to see the return of the nine-mile branch line, which was closed to passengers in 1966, had their hopes dashed last month after the new Labour chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a raft of cuts to government programmes and policies to plug a projected overspend of £22b.

This included the Restoring Our Railways Scheme – which would save £85m – although individual projects would be assessed, the government said.

However, a letter from the Department of Transport to Cllr Mark Clark, a district councillor for Hythe, confirmed the scheme would not be progressed.

The letter states: “I can advise that Network Rail undertook a detailed assessment of the proposal to better understand the technical, operational, costs and economic benefits for the scheme.

“This assessment concluded that, despite public support for the proposal to reintroduce rail services between Hythe and Southampton, the capital and operational cost and constraints, and limited service levels that could be reliably operated, would not deliver value for money for the taxpayer. Consequently, the decision was taken to not progress the scheme.”

Commenting on the decision, Cllr Clark told the A&T: “It’s a sad day for all of us in the Waterside community that had been hoping for the last 20 years that an existing rail infrastructure could be brought back into service again without major disruption to us all.

“This decision now brings into sharper focus the question of how we can get the waterside moving again? The ferry has been out of action for a while and we can’t just rely on things being patched up on an ad-hoc basis. Our options are limited.

“We need a fully worked out multi modal transport strategy which employs some wider thinking about future development around Fawley and the growth of any Freeport. So some out of the box thinking is needed to prevent daily gridlock on the A326. Water taxis or cycleways alongside trams perhaps?”

Cllr David Harrison, who has also championed the return of the railway, told the A&T: “After 20 years of campaigning, I am naturally very disappointed that the government has decided not to progress the project. “There is no doubt from the consultation carried out by Network Rail that it was a popular scheme.

“Hopes were raised when the previous government allocated up to £7m for the viability studies – I think the current economic situation is probably the key reason it has been dropped.”

He added: “Although I now think we won’t see the return of the passenger service in my lifetime, the news should act as an extra incentive to campaign for better bus services, the ferry and perhaps even utilising the redundant section of the rail line for cycling and walking.”

The plans were previously publicly backed by a range of local public figures including Lord Montagu and TV historian Dan Snow. Local landowner Aldred Drummond – the then boss of Fawley Waterside Ltd, which was behind plans for 1,500 homes at the old Fawley power station site – also supported the move.

The future of the power station site remains uncertain after Mr Drummond resigned as a director of the scheme, which has now been axed by the consortium behind it.

A public consultation by Network Rail in 2022 saw more than 80% of respondents backing the railway proposals. Out of just over 1,500 responses, 84% said the scheme offered “an improved public transport offering for the Waterside area”.

However, objectors of the scheme previously raised concerns over the the cost, impact on existing bus and ferry services, lack of car parking at Hythe and Marchwood stations, and disruption at level crossings, such as at Totton and Marchwood.

New Forest East MP Sir Julian Lewis also previously raised concerns that reopening the line could prejudice funding for improving the A326.