Thames Water urged to support new Oxfordshire train station

A feasibility study is being compiled for the county council to determine the business case for reopening a station in Wantage or neighbouring village Grove.

Trains had stopped in the area for over a century until the ‘Beeching cuts’ in 1964 saw it close.

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Expected to be published at the end of September, the feasibility study will look at “the financial viability of a new station and where it should be best located”.

At the moment it cannot be said what service would run through it although linking it to the East-West Railway to Cambridge, which is under construction, has been suggested.

Andy Holding and members of the Wantage and Grove Station Supporters (Image: Ed Nix) One of the largest hurdles that the project will likely need to overcome is the cost although an initial assessment from the county council has shown that a new station could have a benefit-cost ratio of 2.48 – i.e. a return of £2.48 for every £1 spent.

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The MP for Didcot and Wantage, Olly Glover, said that the “main challenge now is identifying the funding” and he has been making the case for it with the Rail Minister Lord Peter Hendy.

“I am working to bring together businesses and organisations that could support the project,” the Lib Dem MP said.

Didcot and Wantage MP Olly Glover (Image: Olly Glover) Councillor Sarah James, leader of the Green group on the Vale of White Horse District Council, has urged the county council to link the project to the planned reservoir near Abingdon.

She said: “If they [Thames Water] get permission they will build railway sidings to deliver construction material on the same stretch of line as one of the proposed Grove Station sites. 

"I urge the county council to push Thames Water to make sure that their plans support and enable a passenger station at Grove.

“At the very least we need to make sure that the reservoir sidings won’t block any hope of a station for another decade or more.”

Sarah James, leader of the Greens on Vale of White Horse District Council (Image: Sarah James) As the feasibility study continues, the Wantage and Grove Station Supporters Group (WGSSG) celebrated the blessing of Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, which hosts more than 7,500 people on site, for the scheme.

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Andy Holding of the group said it was “great news” while Mr Glover said he was “pleased".

Paul McSweeney, senior director at Harwell Campus, said that “enhancing access to the campus is positive for the movement of talent, ideas and collaboration”.

Andy Holding and members of the Wantage and Grove Station Supporters (Image: Ed Nix) Supporting that sentiment, a spokesperson for the Wantage Chamber of Commerce said: “From a business perspective, improved connectivity is always welcome. It opens up opportunities for both customers coming to us and for our workforce.”

Virtually all leaders in Wantage and Grove agreed that transport infrastructure should be improved.

“Residents have been crying out for this for decades,” said Ms James.

She cited “significant housing and population growth”, an argument supported by Mr Holding who highlighted the “growing population and number of businesses within the catchment area”.