| From Swindon - East and West good, what about south and north? Posted by grahame at 19:16, 15th October 2026 |     |
From the Swindon Advertiser
Mixed response as direct Birmingham to Swindon route questioned
Plans to restore a direct rail link between Swindon and Birmingham have sparked a lively debate on social media, with many residents welcoming the prospect of easier travel while others questioned ticket prices, the economic benefits and whether the project will ever become reality.
[snip]
Under the plans, Swindon would be linked to Birmingham via Stroud and Stonehouse through a new hourly service. The route could provide more than two million extra seats every year and up to 130 additional trains per week.
[snip]
"We also need a direct train to Southampton."
Gary Timmins simply described the announcement as "About time", while Sally Cole asked the question on many readers' minds: "Great!!!!! When? ?? ??"
[snip]
Several people suggested that high ticket prices remain a bigger issue than the availability of direct routes.
Adam Czop said: "Train ticket prices are unacceptable; traveling by train is completely unprofitable. If you want to reduce car use, make a cheap tickets."
Alan Wilson agreed, saying rail travel can still be prohibitively expensive despite railcard discounts.
Some residents also questioned how much demand there would be for travel between the two destinations.
Chris Wheeler joked: "you don't know who to feel more sorry for, those going to swindon or those going to birmingham."
Plans to restore a direct rail link between Swindon and Birmingham have sparked a lively debate on social media, with many residents welcoming the prospect of easier travel while others questioned ticket prices, the economic benefits and whether the project will ever become reality.
[snip]
Under the plans, Swindon would be linked to Birmingham via Stroud and Stonehouse through a new hourly service. The route could provide more than two million extra seats every year and up to 130 additional trains per week.
[snip]
"We also need a direct train to Southampton."
Gary Timmins simply described the announcement as "About time", while Sally Cole asked the question on many readers' minds: "Great!!!!! When? ?? ??"
[snip]
Several people suggested that high ticket prices remain a bigger issue than the availability of direct routes.
Adam Czop said: "Train ticket prices are unacceptable; traveling by train is completely unprofitable. If you want to reduce car use, make a cheap tickets."
Alan Wilson agreed, saying rail travel can still be prohibitively expensive despite railcard discounts.
Some residents also questioned how much demand there would be for travel between the two destinations.
Chris Wheeler joked: "you don't know who to feel more sorry for, those going to swindon or those going to birmingham."
A second hourly train up the from Swindon via Kemble and Stroud, then via Cheltenham up to Birmingham would make sense. The line is double track all the way apart from the junction north of Stonehouse, and there are significant intermediate flows. Joking apart, Birmingham is very much the jumping off point for the rest of the Midlands, north of England, North Wales and Scotland.
Swindo to Birmingham ran under operation Princess (VS0) but that was short-lived.
Direct train to Southampton? There already is one at 06:03. There isn't a direct one back at all. Seriously, the Park Report of circa 2000 make an excellent case for a Swindon - Southampton service every hour, and a very constrained one ran from 2001 to 2006.
