Long Marston railway station

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Long Marston
Long Marston railway station (site), Warwickshire (geograph 6187307).jpg
The site of the station in 2019
General information
Location Long Marston, Stratford-on-Avon,
England
Coordinates 52°07′44″N1°46′30″W / 52.1288°N 1.7751°W / 52.1288; -1.7751
Grid reference SP155478
Platforms2 (from 1908; previously 1)
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Opened12 July 1859;166 years ago (1859-07-12)
Closed3 January 1966;60 years ago (1966-01-03)
Original company Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway
Pre-grouping Great Western Railway
Post-groupingGreat Western Railway,
Western Region of British Railways
Key dates
May 1908;117 years ago (1908-05)Second platform opened
Location
Long Marston railway station

Long Marston railway station served the village of Long Marston, in Warwickshire, England, between 1859 and 1966. It was a stop on the Great Western Railway (GWR) line between Stratford-upon-Avon and Honeybourne, which became part of the their new main line between Birmingham and Cheltenham.

Contents

History

The Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway (OW&WR) opened a single track branch line from Honeybourne to Stratford on 12 July 1859; Long Marston station was opened just south of the village. The OW&WR became part of the GWR, which upgraded the route into a double-tracked main line in 1908.

In 1966, British Rail withdrew passenger services from Long Marston station. Freight services continued until 1976, when the track between Long Marston and Stratford was lifted.

Disused railways
Honeybourne
Line closed, station open		  Great Western Railway
Honeybourne Line 		  Milcote
Line and station closed
Preceding station HR icon.svg Heritage railways Following station
Proposed extension
Honeybourne
towards Cheltenham Race Course
Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway Milcote
towards Stratford-upon-Avon

The site today

The track between Honeybourne and Long Marston remains open for non-passenger trains to and from Long Marston depot, which was built as a Ministry of Defence (MoD) facility known as Long Marston Central Engineering Park. [1]

The Shakespeare Line Promotion Group is promoting a scheme to reopen the 9 miles (14 km) of line south of Stratford-upon-Avon to Honeybourne, where it would link to the Cotswold Line. Named the Avon Rail Link, the scheme is supported as a freight diversionary route by DB Schenker. [2] This would make Stratford-upon-Avon a through station once again, with improved connections to the south and open up the possibility of direct services to Oxford and Worcester, via Evesham. [3] The scheme faces local opposition; [4] however, there is a good business case for a Stratford-Cotswolds link. [5]

Rolling stock storage depot

The storage depot and sidings Long Marston storage depot - geograph.org.uk - 1137595.jpg
The storage depot and sidings

Since the privatisation of British Rail in the mid-1990s, rolling stock companies (ROSCOs) have used it to store out-of-lease rolling stock. The site is secure and secluded, to minimise the risk of vandalism.

In June 2021, Porterbrook purchased the site both for long-term rolling stock storage and to develop its Rail Innovation Centre. It is building an electrified continuous testing loop, which is due to commence operations in early 2026. [6]

Military railway

In 2014, it was announced that a volunteer-run working military railway would be created on the site of the former MoD depot. [7] The Long Marston Military Railway project sought to keep alive military railway skills, such as the rerailing of trains, locomotive driving and track laying. This followe the disbanding of the British Army's last railway unit, the Royal Logistic Corps 275 Railway Squadron, in March 2014 as a result of Government defence cuts.[ citation needed ] The 79 Railway Squadron had been disbanded in 2012.[ citation needed ]

A Military Railfest was planned for 6–10 May 2015 and was expected to include about 20 former army locomotives. Barclay 0-4-0 Mulberry [8] was already at Long Marston and was joined by USATC S160 Class 2-8-0 no. 3278 on 22 April 2014.[ citation needed ] The project had been using the shed vacated by the Stratford on Avon and Broadway Railway in 2011. [9]

In March 2015, it was reported that the project had collapsed and that the majority of the site would be redeveloped for housing. Sidings were retained for the storage of the former London Underground's District line D78 Stock, for Vivarail's conversion into Class 230 diesel multiple units. [7]

References

  1. ↑ "Long Marston Central Engineer Park (Depot)". Warwickshirerailways.com. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  2. ↑ DB Schenker Rail (UK) Limited (November 2009). "Response to Network Rail's Great Western Route Utilisation Strategy -Draft for Consultation" (PDF). Doncaster. pp. 14, 29. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  3. ↑ Wilson, Matt (25 June 2013). "Campaigners' new report on Stratford to Honeybourne rail link". Stratford Herald. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  4. ↑ "Rail restore talks on track". Stratford Observer . 1 October 2012. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  5. ↑ "Good business case for Stratford-Cotswolds link". Railnews . 22 October 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
  6. ↑ "Long Marston Rail Innovation Centre". Porterbrook. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
  7. 1 2 Johnston, Howard (4–17 March 2015). "Regional News". Rail . No. 769. p. 25.
  8. ↑ "Preserved Railways". Dicken, R., Redfern, S.W. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  9. ↑ "Military Railfest". Steam Railway (429). Bauer Media Group: 6–7. June–July 2014. ISSN   0143-7232.

Further reading

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