Open up the Waterside line to walking, wheeling and cycling

 If you stand at the level crossing at School Road, Hythe and look up and down the Waterside line, you’ll see a beautiful tree-lined nature corridor curving invitingly out of sight. The old sleepers and rails are almost hidden by dense undergrowth. 

The last oil train to Fawley refinery ran almost exactly a decade ago in September 2016. The last passenger train from Hythe departed 60 years ago on Valentine’s Day in 1966. 

Network Rail has mothballed the line south of Marchwood and removed level crossing barriers. Successive official studies, including a very detailed one in 2022 which cost £7m, have concluded that restoring passenger trains to Hythe would be extremely expensive (£113 million in 2022 prices) and very poor value for money. 

Rail campaigners have been trying for several decades to persuade different governments to restore trains. Unfortunately, the costs are far too high, projected passenger numbers too low and there are numerous practical difficulties, such as lack of room in Hythe for station parking. 

There is another way of making good use of this wonderful public facility. For a small fraction of the cost of restoring trains, the line between Hardley and Marchwood, via Hythe, could be turned into a 4.7 mile traffic-free walking, wheeling and cycling route and linear park: Waterside Greenway. 

Waterside Greenway would enable people to travel safely on foot, by mobility scooter or by bicycle between Hardley, Hythe and Marchwood. Currently, 40,000 people living in the Waterside south of Marchwood cannot safely walk, wheel or cycle to Marchwood, Totton or Southampton. Main Road past Dibden Golf Course and  Church Farm Close has no pavements, blind bends and speeding vehicles. 

The real choice we face in the Waterside is not between restoring passenger trains or creating a walking, wheeling and cycling route. It is between allowing the line to remain closed, rotting and wasted for another decade or reopening it for peaceful, traffic-free walks and nearly-level rides through lovely countryside with fine views of the cruise ships on Southampton Water. 

We are calling for a feasibility study into creating Waterside Greenway. Initial estimates from the Walk Wheel Cycle Trust (formerly Sustrans) suggest such a study would cost £12,000 to £28,000, or between 0.17% and 0.4% of the cost of the last feasibility study into restoring trains to Hythe.