Plans for Cirencester to Kemble railway line move ahead

The team behind plans to reopen a railway line in Gloucestershire is bidding for the final tranche of funding for a feasibility study.

The Cirencester Community Railway Project hopes to restore the line between Cirencester and Kemble.

Known as a Very Light Railway (VLR), it wants to open a single file five mile track between the town and village.

The group is in the process of applying for £50,000 to complete an assessment of their plans.

The linking railway line was closed by Dr Beeching in the 1960s and the market town's railway station was replaced with a car park and what is now Waitrose.

Designed to be lower-cost than traditional rail, VLR networks utilise existing road and rail infrastructure.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, a spokesperson for the community railway group said: "Very Light Rail (VLR) systems have been given added momentum with the ongoing climate emergency and the need to move to greener and more sustainable forms of transport".

According to the project hopefuls, the "initial carbon footprint of construction amortised over the long life of the VLR, means it is one of the greenest forms of transport available today".

'Strengthen public transport'

In November 2022, the Very Light Rail National Innovation Centre (VLRNIC), which the Cirencester group is hoping to use to create the link, opened a site at the former British rail station at Dudley in the Black Country.

CEO of the Black Country Innovation and Manufacturing Organisation, Neil Fulton, said: "It is hoped that this new, UK-developed, transport system will be used to strengthen public transport connections in rural locations."

A VLR system is being developed and tested for Coventry, and it is hoped the Cirencester scheme will be at the "forefront of pioneering VLR".

The Cirencester and Kemble proposal would also include a cycle track and footpath alongside the VLR to provide alternative travel to and from the town.

The railway group said that the scheme, which is likely to cost millions of pounds, will require substantial capital investment in future and they are contacting long term investors to find out what might be available.

A review looking at alternative ways to link the stations has been carried out by Gloucestershire County Council, which the group's spokesperson said "principally focused on short term bus services".

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