End of Fawley reopening plans

The Department for Transport has confirmed the end of proposals to reopen the Fawley branch alongside Southampton Water, also known as the Waterside Line.

Although plans had been in development since 2009, the reopening of the freight line to passengers had become part of the Restoring Your Railway programme promoted by former Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.

Shortly after Labour won the general election, it announced the ending of this programme, often referred to as “reversing Beeching.”

The DfT has now written to Hythe councillor Mark Clark to state: “The Restoring Your Railway programme will now come to an orderly close and no further funding will be provided.”

It added: “.. despite public support for the proposal to reintroduce rail services between Hythe and Southampton – the capital cost, operational cost and constraints and limited service levels that could be reliably operated would not deliver value for money for the taxpayer.”

A Network Rail consultation in 2022 found that 84 per cent of local people supported the reopening.

The Fawley branch had not seen regular passenger trains since 1966. Network Rail had previously envisaged services returning in 2025.

The aim was for a single two-car Class 158 / 9 diesel shuttle running every 30 minutes to a bay platform at Southampton Central.

Unlike most reopenings proposed under the Restore Your Railways scheme, the tracks remained in place, and Network Rail had maintained the route in working order. The station at Marchwood required refurbishment and perhaps a second platform, and a number of level crossings needed upgrading or removing. Improvements to semaphore signalling would also have been needed.

In 2020, the Three Rivers Community Rail Partnership came up with a price tag of £45 million for the whole route and the government handed Network Rail £7 million of development funding to get the project “shovel ready.”

Marchwood military port, now rebranded as Solent Gateway, has plans to introduce civilian operations. With its active rail link, it could be suitable for container traffic or car imports and exports.