New Bournemouth-Salisbury line

[CherryCoffin]

Hi there,

Bournemouth, and the surrounding area, and Salisbury are not directly connected with one another despite being only roughly 30 miles apart. The single carriageway between Salisbury and Ringwood (halfway between them) is often full, as is the dual carriageway between Bournemouth and Ringwood. There is a bus service which runs between the two.

Would a new line between these two places be beneficial? The Avon Valley is rather flat, and there is space for a junction just east of Christchurch railway station. Services could continue on to Bath and Bristol, or Poole. As is getting between Bristol and Bournemouth is not easy or quick. An intermediate station at Ringwood would be sure to gain commuters and leisure users quickly and will overall help to lighten the heavy load on the A338.

This work could potentially tie into improvements to the Wessex Main Line and help to massively improve regional connections there. I don’t know about Bristol but Bournemouth to me certainly has the extra capacity for at least an hourly service.

 

[JonathanH]

The direct route between Christchurch and Ringwood appears to have closed in 1935.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringwood,_Christchurch_and_Bournemouth_Railway

The Salisbury to Fordingbridge and West Moors line shut in 1964
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salisbury_and_Dorset_Junction_Railway

It doesn't sound like there was much traffic on either line. Obviously it would be different now.

While a new line would be helpful to some people, it is difficult to see how demand would be greater than on the Salisbury to Southampton line which seems to support two trains an hour. I'm not sure how the money could be raised to support the opening of a line connecting Salisbury and Bournemouth.

 

[30907]

Hi there,

Bournemouth, and the surrounding area, and Salisbury are not directly connected with one another despite being only roughly 30 miles apart. The single carriageway between Salisbury and Ringwood (halfway between them) is often full, as is the dual carriageway between Bournemouth and Ringwood. There is a bus service which runs between the two.

Would a new line between these two places be beneficial? The Avon Valley is rather flat, and there is space for a junction just east of Christchurch railway station. Services could continue on to Bath and Bristol, or Poole. As is getting between Bristol and Bournemouth is not easy or quick. An intermediate station at Ringwood would be sure to gain commuters and leisure users quickly and will overall help to lighten the heavy load on the A338.

In my teens I got the crayons out and produced a convincing route Christchurch-Ringwood-Fordingbridge and then over the S&DJ (Salisbury and Dorset Junction!). Unfortunately a fair chunk of the old Hurn line is under the A338, and Ringwood and Christchurch have grown too, so it would be more difficult now - and I fear difficult to make a case for.

 

[SWR class 158]

Well a cheap way of doing it could just be done by adding a chord over the river test to let trains from Romsey head to Totton without needing to add 5 miles to go via Southampton. With this a train from Bournemouth to Salisbury stoping at most stops could be done in just over one hour, with fewer stops e.g. Bournemouth - brock - Salisbury it could be done in about 45 mins. Currently it about 1:45 hr at best.

 

[swt_passenger]

Well a cheap way of doing it could just be done by adding a chord over the river test to let trains from Romsey head to Totton without needing to add 5 miles to go via Southampton. With this a train from Bournemouth to Salisbury stoping at most stops could be done in just over one hour, with fewer stops e.g. Bournemouth - brock - Salisbury it could be done in about 45 mins. Currently it about 1:45 hr at best.

...and if you’re that close to Southampton you could just change anyway. Suggesting a faster through train than the existing fastish trains on both routes - how would you path it amongst the existing services?