Campaign to Double Swindon to Kemble Railway Line Update

More than 1,800 people have signed Gloucestershire County Council's petition calling for an extra railway track between Kemble and Swindon. If the decision to redouble the line between Swindon and Kemble is not made next month, it won't happen for at least another seven years as earlier this year the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) said the scheme would not be included in its planned programme of works for 2009 to 2014. The programme contains 50 of the most pressing rail projects in England and Wales together costing £7.1 billion. But, agonisingly, the Swindon-Kemble link is number 51 and will not be included, unless the decision is overturned.

Cheltenham MP Martin Horwood has joined other MPs, councillors, business people and rail users calling again for the redoubling of the railway line between Swindon and Kemble. He made his final submission to the consultation which will decide whether this scheme will be included on the priority works list of the Office of Rail Regulation.

Martin, who regularly uses rail services between Cheltenham and London for his work in Parliament, said “I believe the scheme will be good value for money, significantly improve the passenger experience for my constituents and many others, be good for business and for the environment, allow for planned growth in population and deliver noticeable benefits to a large part of the rail network from South Wales to London.”

In his submission, Martin told the Office of Rail Regulation “It seems inconceivable to me that such an important and widely supported scheme could be excluded from your priority list”. A copy of the letter was also sent to Tom Harris MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport. Martin has already raised this issue several times in Parliament and written a joint letter, with Labour’s David Drew and the Conservative Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, to other MPs requesting their support.

To read Martin Horwood's letter to the Office of Rail Regulations in full please click here.

You can register your support for Gloucestershire County Council's campaign at www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/railpetition or by Freepost at Freepost RRYJ- GCLA-TLHR, Gloucestershire County Council, Environment Directorate, Shire Hall, Gloucester GL1 2TH