Cirencester branch line

Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway

The Great Western Railway opened its main line between London and Bristol in 1841.^: 131 During the construction period, an independent company called the Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway obtained authorisation on 21 June 1836, in the Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway Act 1836, to make a line from the GWR at Swindon, to Cheltenham, via Stroud and Gloucester. The estimated cost of construction was £750,000.^: 135–6

As well as the main line between Swindon and Cheltenham, there was to be a branch to Cirencester, terminating at Botany Bay. A landowner at Kemble, named Robert Gordon, was evidently hostile to the railway and he secured clauses in the C&GWUR's authorising act of Parliament requiring a tunnel, not needed for engineering purposes, near to Kemble; the railway was forbidden to open a public station on Gordon's estate. The new line was to be on the broad gauge.^: 164–7

The money market was extremely depressed in the period following authorisation of the line and subscriptions could not be secured to make material progress on construction. In desperation, the directors determined to construct between Swindon and Cirencester only for the time being, for that would give the best chance of getting an income that would pay a dividend on the outlay. The company arranged a provisional lease with the Great Western Railway, in which the GWR would pay £17,000 annually for the use of the (as yet unbuilt) line.^: 164–7

The Bristol and Gloucester Railway was relying on timely completion of the C&GWUR at the Gloucester and Cheltenham end of the line; it obtained clauses in C&GWUR acts of Parliament pressuring the Cheltenham company to complete at the Gloucester end of the line, and the emphasis on early construction passed to that area. In November 1840, even that work proved impossible to finance and attention reverted to the Swindon end.

Progress was made eventually and the line opened between Swindon and Cirencester on 31 May 1841. It was a single broad gauge line; stations were at Purton, Minety and Cirencester, so there was no intermediate station on what was to be the branch line. The line was leased to the GWR as arranged, for a period of seven years.^: 170–5

Great Western Railway

In 1842, the C&GWUR obtained the Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway Act 1842 giving authorisation to sell their line to the GWR. The mainline company was not yet ready to purchase but, after a delay, the transfer was agreed in January 1843. The amalgamation took place on 1 July 1843; the GWR spent £230,000 in the acquisition of the line, which had so far cost the C&GWUR £600,000 to construct.^: 170–5

The GWR did not hasten to complete the line, but it opened from Kemble to Standish Junction, joining the Bristol line there on 12 May 1845.^: 184 Kemble thus became the junction station for what was now the Cirencester branch. Gordon's restrictive clauses prevented the opening of a public station there and the GWR contented itself with an exchange station, not accessible for joining and leaving passengers or goods. Tetbury was served by Tetbury Road station, on the main line immediately north of the Cirencester to Tetbury road and just outside Gordon's estate.^: 164–7

Gauge conversion

The Cirencester branch had been opened as a broad gauge line. The GWR undertook a widespread conversion to narrow (standard) gauge in the general area in 1872; the Cirencester branch was closed on 22 May for the conversion work and reopened as a standard gauge line on 27 May. Passengers were conveyed by horse-drawn omnibus to and from Tetbury Road station during the closure.^: 64

Signalling improvements

In 1908, the Webb-Thompson electric train staff system was installed on the branch. The Cirencester line was controlled from Kemble East signal box and Cirencester; the former was demolished in 1929 and a new 62-lever box was installed. Due to the curvature of the platform at Kemble, there was an auxiliary staff instrument on the platform.

Diesel railbuses

In an attempt to save the line from closure, diesel railbuses were introduced on the line in February 1959 to reduce costs. The train service was increased to 14 trains per day; Chesterton Lane Halt was opened and Park Leaze Halt followed in January 1960.

Results were encouraging: 130,000 passengers yearly, an average of about 13 per train; the railbus was overcrowded, particularly on Saturdays. The original intention was to run railbuses through to Swindon to avoid a change of trains at Kemble, but this proved impossible as the lightweight vehicles did not reliably operate the signalling track circuits on the main line.

Closure

Nevertheless, despite the initial success of the railbuses, the passenger service was not financially viable and it was withdrawn on 6 April 1964. Goods traffic was withdrawn on 4 October 1965.