Proposal to restore rail link to be examined

The potential restoration of a former rail link has moved a step closer, after narrowly securing support from a local authority, but it came amid criticism the proposals were "fruit bat loopy".

A feasibility study will now be carried out over the next year on proposals to reconnect Hereford, Ross-on-Wye and Gloucester by train.

Liberal Democrat councillor Louis Stark said axing the line in the mid-1960s was "one of the greatest pieces of economic and social vandalism to happen to the people of Ross and south Herefordshire".

In a named vote, a motion calling for the feasibility study was passed by 21 votes to 18, with seven abstentions.

"If we are serious about a sustainable future, we have to have a modal shift in transport across the county, which has to include a wider role for rail," Stark said.

Now was an opportune moment to press the issue, he added, as Herefordshire Council had recently agreed a local transport plan up to 2041 which committed to enhancing rail services.

Councillor Richard Thomas, who said he had ridden the former line in his youth, pointed out that the route was all now in private hands.

"There is no alternative route – our Victorian engineers took the easiest possible route," he said.

"There are two tunnels, both collapsed, four bridges are missing, and there are six houses on what was the track."

Councillor Matthew Engel described the idea as a "whimsy", and said it was a distraction from "plausible and necessary" improvements needed on the county's existing rail infrastructure.

Councillor Jim Kenyon said the proposals were "fruit bat loopy" but council leader Jonathan Lester said he could see the merit of the scheme.

Travelling from Bromyard ward to Worcester would take 10 to 15 minutes by rail, he said.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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