A TRAM-train is being mooted as a solution to Stratford’s transport issues.
It has come about as part of discussions on whether to reopen the Stratford to Honeybourne railway line and is considered a cheaper option.
A tram-train can operate on conventional Network Rail infrastructure but can also undertake on-street running. It would be lower cost to build and operate than a heavy rail line through Stratford but it would be more for local rather than regional travel.
The tram-train would run from Stratford to Honeybourne taking in the new development at Long Marston. Reopening the Stratford to Honeybourne line would open up a whole host of other possible rail journeys between Birmingham and the South West and South Wales and direct services to and from Oxford and the Thames Valley and London Paddington.
It follows a meeting of Stratford District Council’s cabinet which saw councillors approve a refreshed Strategic Outline Business Case into improving connectivity in and around Stratford. It came up with a total of 23 options with the tram-train and the reopening of the Stratford to Honeybourne line proving the most viable.
Further studies will now be undertaken into both.
The first SOBC was undertaken in May 2021 after four rail promotion groups – the Cotswold Line Promotion Group; Shakespeare Line Promotion Group, Solihull and Leamington Rail Users Association, and Stratford Rail Transport Group, were successful in obtaining funding from the then Government’s Restoring Your Railway (RYR) – Ideas Fund to explore the potential restoration of the railway line between Stratford and Honeybourne.
This first SOBC is now considered outdated.
SDC made clear that if the re-instatement of the rail-line proves to be viable and achievable it would require the rail industry to promote and fund such a project and it would take a number of years to come to fruition.
The effect of reinstating the railway on the Greenway in Stratford would also be an important consideration.
The section of railway line was closed following a freight train derailment in 1976 and has since been left to become overgrown and as a result, a haven for wildlife.
SDC’s deputy leader Coun George Cowcher said: “This is very much a long-term project with a number of significant challenges associated with the proposed reopening, the most significant of which is funding.
“However we need to look at this as part of developing an overall transport strategy for the sub-region and the economic and environmental benefits that it could bring.”
