Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway
| Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway | |
|---|---|
| Overview | |
| Locale | Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire |
| Operation | |
| Opened | 1855 |
| Operator(s) | Great Western Railway, British Railways |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
The Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway is a former railway in the Cotswold Hills in Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, England.
The railway was built and opened in stages. The Chipping Norton Railway opened in 1855, linking the town of Chipping Norton with the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway at Kingham. The Bourton-on-the-Water Railway between Kingham and Bourton-on-the-Water opened in 1862.
By 1881 two further sections of railway had been completed: one between Chipping Norton and King's Sutton and the other between Bourton-on-the-Water and Cheltenham. Together these four sections of railway formed a complete line between Cheltenham and King's Sutton.
The BCDR company did not operate services on the line: it contracted the Great Western Railway to do so in return for a share of the receipts.
In 1891 the Midland and South Western Junction Railway built a junction with the BCDR at Andoversford. The M&SWJR paid for running rights on the BCDR between Andoversford and Cheltenham.
The BCDR remained a separate company until the GWR absorbed it in 1897. All services along the BCDR used to have to change directions at Kingham until 1906, when the GWR built a loop over the OW&W that bypassed the station.
There were two tunnels between Chipping Norton and Hook Norton: Chipping Norton Tunnel, 685 yards (626 m) long, and Hook Norton Tunnel, 418 yards (382 m) long. Hook Norton Tunnel is actually nearer the village of Swerford and is sometimes called Swerford Park Tunnel.
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