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East Gloucestershire Railway

Abandoned branch line in Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire

The Oxford, Witney and Fairford Railway was a single track railway branch line, 22 miles (35 km) long, in Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire in England in the United Kingdom. It was opened in succession by two companies, the first in 1861 to connect the important wool-producing town of Witney to the main line network, and the second in 1873 as the rump of an ambitious scheme to connect to Cheltenham, but which ran only between Witney and Fairford. The junction with the main line was at Yarnton, north of Oxford.2 It ceased to exist in 1890.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

Jul 7, 1862Founded1

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The Oxford, Witney and Fairford Railway was a single track railway branch line, 22 miles (35 km) long, in Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire in England in the United Kingdom. It was opened in succession by two companies, the first in 1861 to connect the important wool-producing town of Witney to the main line network, and the second in 1873 as the rump of an ambitious scheme to connect to Cheltenham, but which ran only between Witney and Fairford. The junction with the main line was at Yarnton, north of Oxford.2

The story

Witney had been an important town with a significant woollen industry, but found itself at a competitive disadvantage as northern manufacturing towns gained railway connections. A number of schemes were put forward, including a possible branch from the London and Birmingham Railway at Tring.

The Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway (OW&WR) opened on 4 June 1853 from Wolvercot Junction, on the Great Western Railway (GWR) a little north of Oxford to Evesham, and Witney had at least a nearby station at Handborough.

Nonetheless a railway to Witney itself was desirable, and after some false starts a public meeting was held on 23 December 1858 to propose a branch line from the OW&WR at Yarnton, where there was to be a new junction station. Sir Charles Fox was appointed Engineer and in the 1859 session a bill was presented to Parliament to authorise the railway. Despite GWR opposition, the Witney Railway was authorised by the Witney Railway Act 1859 (22 & 23 Vict. c. xlvi) of 1 August 1859. Capital was to be £50,000 in shares and £16,000 in borrowings.

From Wikipedia’s article on East Gloucestershire Railway, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Timeline

  1. Sep 1, 1890Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. Jul 7, 1862Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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