Oswestry Branch Railway Restoration - The Truth

[CambrianView]

The plan is in two phases: A light railway from Gobowen to Park Hall Halt (and access to the local hospital), and from there under the A5 via a new tunnel, estimated to cost over £9 million, to Oswestry. This is a single track line. The plan is to run the service every hour at first, tying in with the mainline services between Shrewsbury and Chester.

There's a level crossing access into a minor injuries unit in Oswestry that wasn't included by Cambrian Heritage Railways in their TWAO application, but was identified by the ORR. Despite the crossing being by a complex traffic light controlled multi-junction, and the need to allow ambulance access, the ORR decided this would be left as a grey area and let the application proceed.

Oswestry Station has had scaffolding around it for some years for safety as the building is unsafe. Cambrian Heritages Railways are currently the only user of the building. Shropshire Council are currently seeking funding to make the exterior safe, estimated to cost just under a million.

Part of the reopening project is to extend the renovation down to a quarry at Blodwel so that trains can carry freight off the road system. This would mean the construction of a bridge at Weston over the A483 capable of carrying heavy loads. There are a further two level crossings along that stretch of line before the quarry, also seen as grey areas by the ORR.

 

[Evansthomos]

Ok

 

[Gloster]

Oswestry-Gobowen closed to passengers on 07-11-1966. It was not in the list of lines or stations to be closed in the Beeching Report, but its future status is not clearly indicated on the maps. It is quite possible that it should have been listed, but was omitted in error, possibly due to their being no intermediate station, just a halt for which traffic figures may have been listed under one of the stations, while both stations would have been considered under the other route that served them.

 

[CambrianView]

I got couple questions why did the line close first place I hope it not beaching cut again and is there enough money to get to connect to Oswestry is only small town there is only herdge railway and small museum in Oswestry I think it won't be encomic viably we love all line to re open but it not feasible in current climate because cost live so high and what about hs2 it cost overrun so high it have to scrap by the government that other factors that it in my opinion

A Strategic Outline Business Case has been sent by Cambrian Heritages Railways to the Department for Transport. This document produced by consultants Stantec UK Ltd and Allan Rail examines the costs of reopening the line for the stated purposes.

Shropshire Council are heavily involved in supporting the railway restoration. MP Owen Paterson, who resigned over the loddying scandel, was first to organise the purchase of the line as part of access to a proposed medical centre and to develop a cycle route.

 

[Djgr]

Is this one of the lines Boris promised to reopen?

 

[CambrianView]

Is this one of the lines Boris promised to reopen?

I'm not actually sure. Certainly, Boris Johnson was a close friend of Owen Paterson as he supported him during the lobbying scandel. And Paterson had a close relationship with the heritage railway. In fact, Shropshire County Council created Cambrian Heritages Railways for the purposes of reopening the line.

It would be interesting to know if any single track lines in other areas of the uk were restored and reopened that included the construction of at least one structure crossing an A road (other than the renovation of a level crossing).

 

[Matt P]

I got couple questions why did the line close first place I hope it not beaching cut again and is there enough money to get to connect to Oswestry is only small town there is only herdge railway and small museum in Oswestry I think it won't be encomic viably we love all line to re open but it not feasible in current climate because cost live so high and what about hs2 it cost overrun so high it have to scrap by the government that other factors that it in my opinion

As mentioned by Gloster, the branch wasn't listed for closure. I am not so sure that was an error though. I seem to recall reading (possibly on another thread here) that footfall at Oswestry was comparable to, if not higher than Gobowen (which is in effect, Oswestry Parkway) today. I've not seen the figures to support that view though, and even if true, the surveys done for the Beeching Report would have been carried out when there was still passenger services to Whitchurch, Welshpool and Llanfyllin. I've no idea if any separate revenue date for the branch exists. However, in various photos and video reels, the branch does seem to have generated a fair amount of passenger traffic, although those images will have of course been snapshots in time so it isn't possible to draw any general conclusions.

I remember speaking to someone at the railway museum in Oswestry once who suggested that the closure of the branch was largely down to BR wanting to economise by saving the cost of having to run a DMU empty to/from Gobowen every morning and evening to/from where it was stabled each night, which he suggested was Shrewsbury.

It may have been the same person who told me something which sounded a bit Titfield Thunderbolt than real. However this tale was that a local business man offered to run the branch shuttle himself but wasn't permitted to do so in case he showed up BR by proving them wrong.

It would be really interesting to know how much BR saved by axing the branch shuttle. Most of the infrastructure and signalling remained in situ at Oswestry until 1970, including both signal boxes, albeit only likely to be manned intermittently. Very little changed at the Gobowen end under Gobowen South box was closed circa 1987, although the box was open for only some of the day, including when branch freight trains were due and also for coal trains servicing the coal depot at Gobowen.

 

[CambrianView]

In Gobowen a section of the branch line was being used to back up freight trains when the main line was busy with the regular passenger services well into 2000's. In fact, originally Shropshire County Council didn't buy this stretch of line into Gobowen Station because of this ongoing use. Recently, back-ups of freight have tailed off.

 

[Matt P]

In Gobowen a section of the branch line was being used to back up freight trains when the main line was busy with the regular passenger services well into 2000's. In fact, originally Shropshire County Council didn't buy this stretch of line into Gobowen Station because of this ongoing use. Recently, back-ups of freight have tailed off.

It may have occasionally been used as a lay by siding but I doubt the Shrewsbury to Chester line was that congested that this needed to happen often. The main purpose of the remaining branch infrastructure post 1966 and also when simplified post 1987 was directly associated with freight workings.

The branch has a loop just south of Gobowen station. This was used to enable the locomotives of the stone trains from Blodwell to run around from the Chester end of the train to the Shrewsbury end, the trains almost always going south from Gobowen. The locomotives would then push the loaded train through the station over the level crossing and stop just north of the crossover that also lies to the north of the level crossing. It would then draw forward, over the crossover to gain the right line and continue to Shrewsbury. This would also have been done when coal empties were collected from the coal depot.

The branch loop was also used to run the locomotive round on Kronospan timber trains. Although in the case of those, they arrived from Chirk and pulled into the Shrewsbury platform before reversing over the level crossing and crossover to gain the Chester bound line. It would then run 'wrong line' through the station to gain the access to the branch. This would have been from circa 1991 onwards after Weston Rhyn signal box closed. Prior to that the loops at Weston Rhyn could be used for this purpose.

The remaining branch infrastructure today is very much simplified compared to pre-1987. Other than the use of the bay platform road as coal siding, Things hadn't changed much since 1966. When the South box was still there it was possible for southbound trains to access the branch directly without having to shunt over to the Chester bound line. In those days branch freights used to run around on the mainline using the still extant crossover referred to above and also a now lifted crossover south of the station.

The layout today would prohibit any through running of passenger trains from Shrewsbury or Chester without the addition of a trailing crossover for the former and facing for the latter, plus the associated signalling.

 

[CambrianView]

The Coalyard in Gobowen was closed down some years ago and most of the land developed by the Wrekin Housing Trust. A section of the Oswestry branch line was used to back up trains comprised of many trucks loaded up with wood from/for Kronospan, as Matt correctly points out, to change lines...and boy, what a clanking racket they used to make reversing up the line!

Press releases from last autumn suggest the cost of restoring the Oswestry to Gobowen branch line would be anything between £5.3 and £14.6 million. Operating costs are estimated as £196,000 per year.

 

[The Planner]

The Coalyard in Gobowen was closed down some years ago and most of the land developed by the Wrekin Housing Trust. A section of the Oswestry branch line was used to back up trains comprised of many trucks loaded up with wood from/for Kronospan, as Matt correctly points out, to change lines...and boy, what a clanking racket they used to make reversing up the line!

Press releases from last autumn suggest the cost of restoring the Oswestry to Gobowen branch line would be anything between £5.3 and £14.6 million. Operating costs are estimated as £196,000 per year.

£5.3 million including sorting the A5? That is optimistic.

 

[CambrianView]

£5.3 million including sorting the A5? That is optimistic.

A new footbridge was built over the A5 at Mile End near Oswestry recently. It cost almost £6 million. The proposal for the restoration of the Oswestry branch line is to build a tunnel under the A5.

 

[6Gman]

£5.3 million including sorting the A5? That is optimistic.

And the suggested operating cost seems on the low side ...

 

[Matt P]

As much as I'd like to see Oswestry served by a regular rail service, and although I know that there are a handful of branches of a similar length still in use, I have some doubt whether if several million to reopen the Oswestry to Gobowen branch is money well spent.

 

[Bald Rick]

The Coalyard in Gobowen was closed down some years ago and most of the land developed by the Wrekin Housing Trust. A section of the Oswestry branch line was used to back up trains comprised of many trucks loaded up with wood from/for Kronospan, as Matt correctly points out, to change lines...and boy, what a clanking racket they used to make reversing up the line!

Press releases from last autumn suggest the cost of restoring the Oswestry to Gobowen branch line would be anything between £5.3 and £14.6 million. Operating costs are estimated as £196,000 per year.

All those costs are very optimistic. Operating costs could easily be a factor of ten higher. Assuming the A5 needs some form of bridge, that will be £20m alone.

Also, the strategic outline business case did not propelry assess alternatives for improving bus services, dismissing them as they would need subsidising.

 

[6Gman]

The plan is in two phases: A light railway from Gobowen to Park Hall Halt (and access to the local hospital), and from there under the A5 via a new tunnel, estimated to cost over £9 million, to Oswestry. This is a single track line. The plan is to run the service every hour at first, tying in with the mainline services between Shrewsbury and Chester.

There's a level crossing access into a minor injuries unit in Oswestry that wasn't included by Cambrian Heritage Railways in their TWAO application, but was identified by the ORR. Despite the crossing being by a complex traffic light controlled multi-junction, and the need to allow ambulance access, the ORR decided this would be left as a grey area and let the application proceed.

Oswestry Station has had scaffolding around it for some years for safety as the building is unsafe. Cambrian Heritages Railways are currently the only user of the building. Shropshire Council are currently seeking funding to make the exterior safe, estimated to cost just under a million.

Part of the reopening project is to extend the renovation down to a quarry at Blodwel so that trains can carry freight off the road system. This would mean the construction of a bridge at Weston over the A483 capable of carrying heavy loads. There are a further two level crossings along that stretch of line before the quarry, also seen as grey areas by the ORR.

Is this a proposal to bring it back into the national network - i.e. infrastructure by Network Rail, services by a TOC - or by an independent/ heritage body?

 

[CambrianView]

Is this a proposal to bring it back into the national network - i.e. infrastructure by Network Rail, services by a TOC - or by an independent/ heritage body?

No, although it is my understanding that Cambrian Heritages Railways Ltd (a company created by Shropshire County Council) are in talks with Network Rail.

The branch line ends at buffers at Gobowen Station. The phase one plan is to operate a modern light railway (tram) service to and from the local hospital. This phase is described as "shovel ready". In fact, concrete sleepers have been delivered and stacked up in the former Coalyard in Gobowen for some time, although no relaying has been done yet.

Long term the plan is to restore the entire eight miles of track and transport freight from the quarry at Blodwel to Gobowen and onto the main line.

As far as costs are concerned, I would guess the operating costs would have to be subsidised by the council, the same as certain bus routes that have to be maintained. There are also related capital costs associated with other assets related to the restoration. As the TWAO has been granted, the council take full responsibility for the maintenance of all road over rail structures, including the closed off Grade II listed cast iron pedestrian bridge in Oswestry, all level crossings and the restoration of the stations at Oswestry and Gobowen.

There are a number of bus services running between Oswestry and Gobowen operated by Arriva, Lakeside and Tanat Valley. These buses service Wrexham, Weston Rhyn, Dudleston, Ellesmere, Whittington and Park Hall amongst others, mainly going through residential areas. The restored branch railway line would have one stop, at Park Hall Halt (near the hospital), between Gobowen and Oswestry.

 

[The Planner]

No, although it is my understanding that Cambrian Heritages Railways Ltd (a company created by Shropshire County Council) are in talks with Network Rail.

The branch line ends at buffers at Gobowen Station. The phase one plan is to operate a modern light railway (tram) service to and from the local hospital. This phase is described as "shovel ready". In fact, concrete sleepers have been delivered and stacked up in the former Coalyard in Gobowen for some time, although no relaying has been done yet.

Long term the plan is to restore the entire eight miles of track and transport freight from the quarry at Blodwel to Gobowen and onto the main line.

As far as costs are concerned, I would guess the operating costs would have to be subsidised by the council, the same as certain bus routes that have to be maintained. There are also related capital costs associated with other assets related to the restoration. As the TWAO has been granted, the council take full responsibility for the maintenance of all road over rail structures, including the closed off Grade II listed cast iron pedestrian bridge in Oswestry, all level crossings and the restoration of the stations at Oswestry and Gobowen.

There are a number of bus services running between Oswestry and Gobowen operated by Arriva, Lakeside and Tanat Valley. These buses service Wrexham, Weston Rhyn, Dudleston, Ellesmere, Whittington and Park Hall amongst others, mainly going through residential areas. The restored branch railway line would have one stop, at Park Hall Halt (near the hospital), between Gobowen and Oswestry.

The quarry proposal suddenly changes it from a light railway whicb is relatively easy to maintain to one which is getting hammered by 2000 tonne stone trains. No easy way to head south either without running up to Chester and back down to Crewe.

 

[Gloster]

I read this with my usual cynical attitude, but even so the whole thing seems to be totally impracticable: it strikes me as only slightly less crackers than the Bridport-Maiden Newton narrow-gauge one of a few years ago. The capital costs are astronomical and would weigh the project (or somebody) down with unsustainable debt: the intention to build a tunnel alone should have killed this one stone dead at the start. I reckon that it would always need a hefty subsidy, which someone has to pay for, or suffer economies that put off what custom there might be. Who are the passengers going to be: I doubt there is a massive untapped market wanting to shuttle between Gobowen and Oswestry? Most of those who could travel will have to change at Gobowen if they want to go anywhere: I presume that Shrewsbury is likely to be the main destination and that is a bit of a dogleg (I concede that Wrexham is not so bad).

I may sound cynical, because I am, but the problem with ideas like this is that they take up time, effort and resources before they inevitably fail. But when somebody does come up with a decent and workable proposal, it is dismissed by its opponents as ’just another crazy idealist’s idea, like that…’

 

[Western Lord]

In the long run it would be cheaper to move Oswestry closer to Gobowen.

 

[6Gman]

No, although it is my understanding that Cambrian Heritages Railways Ltd (a company created by Shropshire County Council) are in talks with Network Rail.

The branch line ends at buffers at Gobowen Station. The phase one plan is to operate a modern light railway (tram) service to and from the local hospital. This phase is described as "shovel ready". In fact, concrete sleepers have been delivered and stacked up in the former Coalyard in Gobowen for some time, although no relaying has been done yet.

Long term the plan is to restore the entire eight miles of track and transport freight from the quarry at Blodwel to Gobowen and onto the main line.

As far as costs are concerned, I would guess the operating costs would have to be subsidised by the council, the same as certain bus routes that have to be maintained. There are also related capital costs associated with other assets related to the restoration. As the TWAO has been granted, the council take full responsibility for the maintenance of all road over rail structures, including the closed off Grade II listed cast iron pedestrian bridge in Oswestry, all level crossings and the restoration of the stations at Oswestry and Gobowen.

There are a number of bus services running between Oswestry and Gobowen operated by Arriva, Lakeside and Tanat Valley. These buses service Wrexham, Weston Rhyn, Dudleston, Ellesmere, Whittington and Park Hall amongst others, mainly going through residential areas. The restored branch railway line would have one stop, at Park Hall Halt (near the hospital), between Gobowen and Oswestry.

My question was an either (NR) or (independent/heritage) question so 'No' is an odd answer!

But it would seem that you're saying this entity called Cambrian Heritages Railways Ltd would be doing it?

The capital funding would come from ... where? And the revenue funding from the county council (already struggling to make ends meet).

Is that correct?

 

[Blackpool boy]

The capital funding would come from ... where?

From what i can see from google is that the funding was to come from scrapping HS2 - along with a billion other projects its being spent on

 

[CambrianView]

So many questions?

Would members here like me to attach a copy of the Strategic Outline Business Case" so everyone can take a look?

 

[eldomtom2]

So many questions?

Would members here like me to attach a copy of the Strategic Outline Business Case" so everyone can take a look?

If you've got it and are allowed to share it, I'm sure sharing it would be very helpful.

 

[CambrianView]

Here's the application completed by Cambrian Heritages Railways Ltd (created by Shropshire County Council) for funds from the Department for Transport's "Restore Your Railway" scheme. CHR were successful with this application and were able to use the funds to commission a "Strategic Outline Business Case". The SOBC was completed by contractors and submitted to the Department for Transport in autumn 2022.

 

[Bald Rick]

Here's the application completed by Cambrian Heritages Railways Ltd (created by Shropshire County Council) for funds from the Department for Transport's "Restore Your Railway" scheme. CHR were successful with this application and were able to use the funds to commission a "Strategic Outline Business Case". The SOBC was completed by contractors and submitted to the Department for Transport in autumn 2022.

And what has happened in the intervening 20 months?

 

[CambrianView]

And what has happened in the intervening 20 months?

This:

Cash pledged in full as Oswestry to Gobowen rail link to cost between £5.3m and £14.6m

A light railway linking Oswestry with the mainline at Gobowen would cost anything between £5.3 and £14.6 million to built, with operating costs estimated at £196,000 a year.

www.shropshirestar.com

 

[The Planner]

This:

Cash pledged in full as Oswestry to Gobowen rail link to cost between £5.3m and £14.6m

A light railway linking Oswestry with the mainline at Gobowen would cost anything between £5.3 and £14.6 million to built, with operating costs estimated at £196,000 a year.

www.shropshirestar.com

How do they know how much they are getting with such a range of costs (and very low ones at that)?

 

[CambrianView]

Although Conservative MP Owen Paterson (who had to resign following a lobbying scandel) was heavily instrumental in the purchasing of almost the entire line, it is our current MP, Liberal Democrat Helen Morgan who strongly supports the scheme as a recent email states:

"I believe the social and economic benefits of re-opening this railway line to trains on the national rail network are substantial, and justify the investment required, including infrastructure. Oswestry is a growing town with a population approaching 20,000, not including the hinterland of large villages. It is one of the largest towns in the Midlands without a railway station and is rightly attracting Restore Your Railways funding.

A cost benefit analysis will form part of the business case, which is a future step in the process.

It is for Network Rail and the Department for Transport to assess what infrastructure improvements or alterations are required to re-open the line, where the track is in situ throughout, to adequate heavy rail standards for regular passenger services and to satisfy the Railway Safety Inspectorate. I am not an expert but I can see a strong case for a bridge over the A5, the traffic flow at the other crossing points is much less and well within normal loadings for level crossings across Network Rail.

I am aware that Network Rail currently has a policy against existing as well as new (or re-opened) level crossings where there is a significant vehicle traffic flow. For a number of years they have proposed to close the busy level crossing in Harlescott near Tesco, which is used by a very large number of vehicles including the Park and Ride bus service and the crossing at Long Lane in Craven Arms. Both these proposals are in the current Strategic Business Plan 2019-2024 but have not been proceeded with."

How do they know how much they are getting with such a range of costs (and very low ones at that)?

I do see your point. It's a bit like being given money to buy a car and finding that it's only enough to buy the tyres.

 

[yoyothehobo]

I do see your point. It's a bit like being given money to buy a car and finding that it's only enough to buy the tyres.

I would say its more like being given money to find out what tyres you need to buy