Could I, through the columns of the Echo, raise the profile of the Waterside railway line?

There is an urgent need to stop talking and get the thing open for passengers, reconnecting the Waterside communities to the rest of the United Kingdom.

In early 2024, we were supposed to have learned of the Department for Transport's decision on the reopening to passengers of the Waterside Rail Line, following its closure in 1966 under the Beeching axe.

Times have dramatically changed since 1966, and the reopening of the line should now be a priority, receiving very urgent attention.

READ MORE: Fears plan to reopen Totton to Hythe railway line has been 'shelved'

The population has grown substantially, roads are congested, and we have the carbon footprint to bear in mind.

In 2024, we need, in the southern half of the UK, all the public transport connections we can put together to improve links between regions and districts. The Waterside Line is intact, ready to go, and needs very little investment.

A year ago, the branch line to Okehampton in Devon, population 13,000, had the rail line reopened, and in the first year has so far recorded some 250,000 passenger journeys.

They are now to build an additional station, Okehampton Interchange, on the edge of the town, with parking spaces for two hundred cars.

The Waterside Line, in comparison, has the potential market, with the combined populations of Hythe, Marchwood, Fawley, Dibden, Totton West, and Eling, of over 70,000.

It has the potential, in comparison, to record over 1,000,000 passenger journeys in its first year of operation.

In the meantime, the branch stands idle, rusting, and deteriorating, which is scandalous. It is a public asset and should be put to good use.

This 'humming and hawing' has been going on now for well over ten years, and it is about time somebody got something done. (Yes Minister comes to mind).

The population figures referred to will be dwarfed by the tourism market, where it could become the railhead for the New Forest, connecting leisure markets domestic and overseas, with connections to Gatwick and London.

The roads from the New Forest are congested and a safety hazard, presenting a daunting start for people setting out on a journey, whether short to Southampton or, in particular, much farther afield.

The line should be reopened in full, the entire length through to the refinery, in order to get the full advantage of the market potential and reductions in road travel that it would bring about.

Negotiations with the oil refinery should take this into account; in the meantime, it must be reopened on the basis already negotiated.

There is no excuse for this scandalous situation going on any longer!

H R Harwood
Hedge End