The Cotswold Line is an railway line between and in England.

History

Early years

The line between Oxford and Worcester was built under an 1845

Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation Primary legislation and secondary legislation (the latter also called delegated legislation or subordinate legislation) are two forms of law, created respectively by the legislat ...

and opened in 1851 as part of the

Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway The Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway (OW&WR) was a railway company in England. It built a line from Wolvercot JunctionThe nearby settlement is spelt ''Wolvercote'' and a later station on the LNWR Bicester line follows that spelling. ...

. The Act required the line to be built to

Isambard Kingdom Brunel Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "one ...

broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...

but delays, disputes and increasing costs led to its being completed as standard gauge. The first stage of the Worcester and Hereford Railway opened between

Henwick Henwick is a suburb of Worcester, England. It is located to the west of the River Severn and to the north of St. John's. Henwick is often affected by flooding of the Severn particularly along parts of the Hylton Road which runs next to the rive ...

and Malvern Link on 25 July 1859. The bridge over the

River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_ ...

was approved for traffic the following year, and trains started running through from Malvern Link to Worcester Shrub Hill station on 17 May 1860. A short extension from Malvern Link to opened on 25 May 1860. On 1 July 1860 the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway absorbed both the Worcester & Hereford Railway and the Newport, Abergavenny & Hereford Railway to form the West Midland Railway. On 13 September 1861 the final stage of the railway opened between Malvern Wells and Shelwick Junction. This junction is just north of Hereford station on the line between Hereford and Shrewsbury, and it finally created a through route between Worcester and Hereford. The

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 mill ...

took over the West Midland Railway in 1863. The original tunnel through the ridge of the

Malvern Hills The Malvern Hills are in the English counties of Worcestershire, Herefordshire and a small area of northern Gloucestershire, dominating the surrounding countryside and the towns and villages of the district of Malvern. The highest summit aff ...

, Colwall Tunnel, was completed in July 1860. However, the tunnel was unstable, and it was closed for short periods in 1861 and again in 1907 following rock falls. Eventually the GWR decided to build a new tunnel to the south of the existing one. This opened for traffic on 2 August 1926. The old tunnel was abandoned, and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

it was used to store torpedoes. In the early 1970s, 25 miles from Moreton-in-Marsh to Norton Junction, Worcester were converted from

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

to single track. Following serious floods, which washed parts of embankments away, the line was closed for about a fortnight during July and August 2007 for repairs.

Improvement works 2008–2011

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...

completed the redoubling of of track from just east of to , and from to about west of Evesham on 22 August 2011. This was intended to improve reliability, enable non-stop operations and allow an hourly off peak service to run on the line. The

Office of Rail Regulation The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the economic and safety regulation of Britain's railways, and the economic monitoring of National Highways. ORR regulates Network Rail by setting ...

approved the work in June 2008, although the planned work was over-budget and had to await final approval. In December 2008 vegetation was cleared. A six-week closure of all or part of the line between Oxford and Worcester for preparatory works took place in July and August 2009. Further weekend work planned for February 2010 was postponed by Network Rail. Initial work began in autumn of 2010, with the majority of the second track being relaid between December 2010 and May 2011 when the line was closed at 21.30 from Monday to Thursday. In March 2011 construction works were started on additional structures and signalling equipment that the new line needed, including three new platforms at Charlbury, Ascott-under-Wychwood and . Footbridges at Charlbury and Honeybourne as well as preparation for the upgrade of six Level Crossings. The new double track section between Charlbury and Ascott re-opened on 6 June 2011; the line between Oxford and Moreton-in-Marsh having been closed during the previous nine days. The section between Moreton and Evesham reopened as double track on 22 August 2011 with the line closed for the preceding two weeks.

Platform extensions 2018

The line was closed from 16 to 25 November 2018, between Moreton-In-Marsh and Worcester, so that platforms could be extended to accommodate Class 800 trains.

Opening of Worcestershire Parkway 2020

Worcestershire Parkway railway station opened in February 2020, following a long-standing proposal for a new split-level station where the line crosses over the Birmingham and Bristol Railway route. Connecting services are provided by CrossCountry on the Cardiff to Nottingham line and there is parking for 483 cars.

Route

The line comprises all or part of the following

routes: *GW 200 from Oxford *GW 310 from Wolvercot Junction *GW 300 from Norton Junction *GW 340 from Worcester Shrub Hill *GW 730 from Shelwick Junction to Hereford

Infrastructure

The line is single track between the following places: *Wolvercot Junction, (about north of Oxford) and . * west of and Norton Junction ( south east of ) *Worcester Shrub Hill through to Henwick. *Malvern Wells, ( south of ) and Shelwick Junction ( north of Hereford) with a crossing place at . Other sections are double track. Significant

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...

structures on the line include Campden Tunnel (), the Colwall Tunnels (), Ledbury Tunnel () and viaducts at Worcester and Ledbury.

Detail

Oxford to Charlbury

After departing Oxford station, the Cotswold Line shares track with the Cherwell Valley Line to

Banbury Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshire ...

. About north of the station, the line crosses the Sheepwash Channel which links the Castle Mill Stream and

Oxford Canal The Oxford Canal is a narrowboat canal in central England linking the City of Oxford with the Coventry Canal at Hawkesbury (just north of Coventry and south of Bedworth) via Banbury and Rugby. Completed in 1790, it connects to the River Tha ...

with the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the ...

. Immediately east of the current line is the Rewley Road Swing Bridge over the channel which used to carry the

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the ...

's (LNWR) Buckinghamshire Railway line to its terminus at Oxford Rewley Road. The swing bridge is a

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

. The Rewley Road station building has been dismantled and re-erected at Buckinghamshire Railway Centre. The built up area east of the railway, visible across the Oxford Canal, is Jericho, a district which originated as lodgings outside the city walls where travellers could rest if they arrived after the gates were locked. The Eagle Ironworks of William Lucy & Co. was near the first road bridge over the track on Walton Well Road. After the bridge, the open area to the left is Port Meadow, a water meadow bordering the Thames with a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

round barrow A round barrow is a type of tumulus and is one of the most common types of archaeological monuments. Although concentrated in Europe, they are found in many parts of the world, probably because of their simple construction and universal purpose. ...

. The former LNWR Buckinghamshire Railway branches away to the north east. The section from Oxford to Bicester has been connected to the Chiltern Main Line by a new chord at Bicester, enabling through trains from Oxford to London Marylebone to run from September 2015. Proposals exist for re-opening the whole line and are included in the Draft Milton Keynes & South Midlands Sub-Regional Strategy, but there are many planning and funding matters to be resolved. The line passes through

Wolvercote Wolvercote is a village that is part of the City of Oxford, England. It is about northwest of the city centre, on the northern edge of Wolvercote Common, which is itself north of Port Meadow and adjoins the River Thames. History The Domes ...

. To the west, Lower Wolvercote was a centre for paper making, mainly for the

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...

from the 17th century until 1998 and is the site of

Godstow abbey Godstow is about northwest of the centre of Oxford. It lies on the banks of the River Thames between the villages of Wolvercote to the east and Wytham to the west. The ruins of Godstow Abbey, also known as Godstow Nunnery, are here. A bridge s ...

, a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , found ...

convent founded in the 12th century. The line passes under the viaduct carrying the A34 Oxford Western Bypass and further under the

A40 road A4 most often refers to: *A4 pa