By James Abbott
Feature
The Government’s Restoring your Railway programme has stimulated some interesting proposals for restoring Beeching era cuts, alongside many ideas that are plain flights of fancy. One that definitely falls in the former category is restoration of passenger services on the Fawley branch near Southampton, known locally as the Waterside line. The track remains in situ and part of the branch is still used for freight services, while present and proposed housing densities mean there is a potential traffic base that would make many other Restoring your Railway initiatives blush by comparison.
