Transition Marlborough have published an analysis of the 1,017 people who have given their support to the campaign to restores and electrify the rail link between Bedwyn and Marlborough. The group has costed their scheme at £30 million with a 2:1 economic return over 60 years.
As a result of this report they are asking the Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership for funding for a “demand and high level feasibility study” – which is required by National Rail’s process of supporting new lines.
507 people gave their views via the Transition Marlborough website and 513 signed support forms that were available in the Waitrose foyer.
Of the 576 detailed comments received, most people thought the proposed rail link
would mean less congestion and less pollution in the town, as people would be able to walk or cycle to the new station. And many people said that it would reduce congestion in Great Bedwyn.
Many of the views quoted in the report are from people who live within walking distance of the proposed new station. The demand and feasibility study would predict how many people might drive to the new station from surrounding villages and people further afield seeking rail fares that are cheaper (at the moment) than those on the Inter City trains through Swindon.
The report written by Dr Sam Page sorts the responses into various groups – including the elderly, the disabled, young people without cars, regular commuters and local businesses.
Transition Marlborough’s outline study was accepted by Claire Perry MP who told the group that the department in which she is now a minister has “an appetite for post-Beeching reparations.”
Dr Beeching’s report for the Conservative government into Britain’s railways was published in March 1963. He called for the closure of more than 2,000 stations and 6,000 miles of track.
The new railway station for Marlborough would have to be on land west of the Business Park roundabout on the Salisbury Road. This land is owned by the Crown Estate and is scheduled for housing development – with 200-plus homes. Outline plans for this development have recently been displayed in the Town Hall by the Crown Estate.
Transition Marlborough point out that the Crown Estate has agreed to negotiate access to the land required for the proposed station once we have obtained a positive outcome from the economic feasibility study.
It is unclear from the present state of the process who would then have to find alternative sites for the houses planned for the Salisbury Road development that will displaced by the station and its car park. Nor is it yet clear how large a car park would be needed and what the flow of cars to and from the station would do to the Salisbury Road’s pollution levels – which will anyway be increased by the 200-plus new homes.
The new report and the original study can be found on Transition Marlborough’s website.
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