PLANS to reinstate a direct Rail connection between Oxford and Stratford-upon-Avon have been backed by Network Rail.

The company’s recently published Great Western Route Utilisation Strategy lists the scheme as an ‘unfunded aspiration’.

It was included in the document after lobbying from rail freight organisations and passenger groups.

The move means that Warwickshire councillors would be able to insist that developers provide funding towards the rebuilding of the rail link if the Government approves a proposed eco-town near Stratford-upon-Avon.

Supporters of the scheme want to see the reinstatement of a connection at Honeybourne, on the Cotswold Line between Oxford and Worcester, to the Long Marston branch line and the rebuilding of a disused six-mile route from Long Marston to Stratford.

Developers St Modwen and the Bird Group want to turn part of a former Royal Engineers’ depot at Long Marston into an eco-town, called Middle Quinton.

The firms say reopening the rail route would help minimise car use.

As well as connecting two of southern England’s biggest centres for tourism via the Cotswolds, with a potential journey time of about 50 minutes compared with 75 minutes via Banbury and Leamington Spa, the route would allow freight trains between Oxford and Birmingham to avoid the increasingly busy Banbury-Leamington Spa line.

The connection at Honeybourne linking Oxford and Stratford was closed in 1965, while the Long Marston-Stratford section closed in 1976.

Britain’s biggest rail freight firm DB Schenker, the Rail Freight Group, which represents firms involved in the industry and their customers, the Cotswold Line Promotion Group and the Stratford-upon-Avon Rail Transport Group, all backed the idea of rebuilding the link during consultation.

The Vale of Evesham and Honeybourne are major centres for food distribution and many of the lorries using the A44 through Woodstock and Chipping Norton are carrying imported fruit and vegetables from Europe to depots there, traffic which DB is keen to attract back to the rails.

CLPG chairman Derek Potter said: “It’s a bit pie in the sky at the moment, but that could change if someone came along with a pile of money.

“Reopening this link makes an awful lot of sense and would provide opportunities for people living along the Cotswold Line and in Stratford to make journeys by rail that just aren’t possible at present.”

A spokesman for Network Rail said: “This is an aspiration rather than a definite plan at this stage.

“The inclusion of the line in the route utilisation strategy shows there’s a demand for it.

“But the people who want it need to put together a business case showing how it could be funded, how many people would use it and how feasible the idea is.”