The Oxford, Witney and Fairford Railway was a single track

Single track (rail)

A single track railway is where trains in both directions share the same track. Single track is normally used on lesser used rail lines, often branch lines, where the traffic density is not high enough to justify the cost of building double tracks....

 railway line, 22 miles (35.4 km) long, in Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....

 and Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....

.

The Witney Railway

In 1849 a branch line was proposed from the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway

Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway

The Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton railway was a company authorised on 4 August 1845 to construct a railway line from the Oxford and Rugby Railway at Wolvercot Junction to Worcester, Stourbridge, Dudley, and Wolverhampton, with a branch to the Grand Junction Railway at Bushbury...

 at Wilcote

Wilcote

Wilcote is a hamlet about north of Witney in Oxfordshire, England. Wilcote was a separate civil parish until 1932, when it was absorbed into that of North Leigh.-Manor:...

 near Charlbury

Charlbury

Charlbury is a small town and civil parish in the Evenlode valley, about north of Witney in West Oxfordshire. It is on the edge of the Wychwood forest and the Cotswolds.-Place name:The origin of the town's toponym is obscure...

 via North Leigh

North Leigh

North Leigh is a village and civil parish about northeast of Witney in Oxfordshire. The parish includes the hamlet of East End, and since 1932 has also included the hamlet of Wilcote.-Early history:...

 to Witney, but the route was considered too costly. Instead in 1861 the Witney Railway Company opened its line from the OW&WR at to . At 8 miles (12.9 km) it was longer than the route proposed earlier, but passed through much less hilly terrain which made for lower construction costs per mile and better gradients on the completed line.

The East Gloucestershire Railway

In 1873 the East Gloucestershire Railway Company built 14 miles (22.5 km) of line from the Witney Railway at Witney to . The EGR planned to extend its line to Cheltenham

Cheltenham Spa railway station

Cheltenham Spa railway station is in Gloucestershire, England, on the Bristol-Birmingham main line. It is managed by First Great Western and is about one mile from the town centre.-History:...

, but did not do so.

Later years

The Great Western Railway

Great Western Railway

The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...

 operated all services on the Witney Railway and the EGR, and in 1890 the GWR absorbed both companies. In 1962 British Rail

British Rail

British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...

ways closed the EGR to all traffic and the Witney Railway to passenger traffic. BR closed the Witney Railway to goods traffic in 1970.

External links

• The Fairford Branch
• The Fairford Branch Line
• Fairford Railway, Fairford History Society
• The Witney & East Gloucestershire Railway