Welcome to the 'New Somerset and Dorset Railway'
Our Aim:
Sunday, November 26, 2006
go to the WC and P
Another potential start-up line in Somerset is one option being looked at by the WCPR group. The Weston Clevedon and Portishead line was a ramshackle Colonel Stephens affair which linked the three coastal towns. It closed in 1940 but there has been more than one proposal to reopen it since closure. It does seem a bit of a no-brainer with few engineering works, a flat route and in a major tourist area. It would also serve a pretty useful transport need, Clevedon and Portishead are far too large to be without rail access even now, after Peak Oil rail access will be essential. Weston of course retains its railway via a loop off the main Exeter to Bristol line. Clevedon and Portishead lost their links to the main line in the 60s. Portishead in particular is crying out for a rail link, and almost all the GW branch is still in-situ. There is an active group to restore this link as soon as possible.
So in a matter of weeks two lines with a Colonel Stephens connection are being considered for restoration - the WCPR and Snailbeach. Of course both the Kent and East Sussex and East Kent lines are partly restored, a scheme to reopen the Selsey Tramway using Parry railcars stalled a few years ago.
There is an inaugural meeting of the new WCPR group being held this Thursday, 30 November, details on their website.
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