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Cassington Halt
Site of the halt in 1987.
General information
Location	Cassington, West Oxfordshire England
Coordinates	51°47′25″N 1°20′09″W / 51.79038°N 1.33575°W / 51.79038; -1.33575
Grid reference	SP458104
Platforms	1
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Great Western Railway
Post-grouping	Great Western Railway
Key dates
9 March 1936 (1936-03-09)	Station opens
c. 1948	Resited
1962	Station closes

v t e Oxford, Witney and Fairford Railway
Legend
Oxford, Worcester & Wolverhampton Rly to Worcester │ to Oxford Yarnton A40 road Cassington Halt River Evenlode Cassington Canal Eynsham South Leigh River Windrush Witney Goods Junction River Windrush Witney goods Witney A4095 road Brize Norton and Bampton Carterton Alvescot Kelmscott and Langford Little Faringdon crossing River Leach Lechlade A361 road A417 road Fairford

Cassington Halt was a single platform halt opened by the Great Western Railway on 9 March 1936 on the Oxford, Witney and Fairford Railway to serve the village of Cassington, Oxfordshire, just south of the A40.

History

Cassington Halt was opened by the Great Western Railway on 9 March 1936. It had a single 100-foot (30 m) platform and was unstaffed. As the platform could not accommodate a full train, passengers alighting here had to travel in the last coach (in the case of Down trains) or the front coach (in the case of Up trains). The halt came under the responsibility of the stationmaster at Eynsham and passengers joining trains had to be booked at either Witney or Oxford. An instruction was issued to guards to travel in the front coach of Up services between Eynsham and Yarnton so that fares could be collected from passengers joining the train.

The halt, which was the penultimate station to be opened on the Witney Railway, had a precast concrete platform on which was a traditional wooden shelter with a saw-tooth awning. It was lit by oil lamps which were trimmed and extinguished by the guards of trains calling at the halt. The station was located on the south side of the A40 road which was carried over the line by a traditional Cotswold stone bridge. Following the Second World War, the halt was resited to the north side of the A40 bridge to allow passengers to reach it via a private road rather than having to cross the busy road.

British Railways closed the station on 18 June 1962. Full closure of the line did not come until Monday 2 November 1970.

Present day

The trackbed has been concreted over to provide an access road to the sand extraction sites in the area.

Reopening the railway

There is a strong case to reopen the railway given the severe traffic congestion on the roads to and from Oxford.

References

Notes

1. ^ Butt (1995), p. 55.
2. ^ Quick (2009), p. 116.
3. ^ Jenkins (1985), p. 57.
4. ^ Jenkins (1985), p. 80.
5. Mitchell, Smith & Lingard (1988), fig. 20.
6. Mitchell, Smith & Lingard (1988), fig. 21.
7. Simpson (1997), p. 171.
8. Clinker (1988), p. 26.
9. Jenkins (1985), p. 120.
10. Waters & Doyle (1992), p. 94.
11. "Bid to reopen Witney train track ahead of key rail summit | Oxfordshire Guardian". Archived from the original on 23 September 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2016.

Sources

• Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
• Clinker, C. R. (1988) . Clinker's Register of Closed Passenger Stations and Goods Depots in England, Scotland and Wales 1830–1980 (2nd ed.). Bristol: Avon-Anglia Publications & Services. ISBN 978-0-905466-91-0. OCLC 655703233.
• Jenkins, Stanley C. (1985) . The Fairford Branch. Headington: Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-853613-16-8. LP86.
• Mitchell, Victor E.; Smith, Keith; Lingard, Richard (April 1988). Branch Line to Fairford. Midhurst: Middleton Press. ISBN 0-906520-52-5.
• Quick, Michael (2009) . Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (4th ed.). Oxford: Railway & Canal Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-901461-57-5. OCLC 612226077.
• Simpson, Bill (1997). A History of the Railways of Oxfordshire; Part 1: The North. Witney: Lamplight Publications. ISBN 978-1-89924-602-1.
• Waters, Laurence; Doyle, Tony (1992). British Railways Past and Present: Oxfordshire. Wadenhoe: Silver Link Publishing. ISBN 978-0-94797-187-8. No. 15.

External links

• Photos and pictures of the halt
• Station on 1947 OS Map
• Archived page with post-closure details of stations

• Former Great Western Railway stations
• Disused railway stations in Oxfordshire
• West Oxfordshire District
• Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1936
• Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1962