Alcester to Hatton Branch Line
The Alcester to Hatton Branch Line was a thirteen mile long single track branch railway line in Warwickshire, England, that ran from Hatton on the present day Chiltern Main Line to Alcester via four intermediate stations Claverdon, Bearley, Aston Cantlow Halt, and Great Alne.[1]
History
Opening
On 9 October 1860 the Stratford Upon Avon Railway opened including in its length the seven mile long section from Hatton to Bearley. The Alcester Railway constructed the remaining six miles of line to Alcester where it linked to the Evesham and Redditch Railway, opening on 4 September 1876. Run through an operating agreement with the Great Western Railway it was an independent line until the Great Western Railway bought it in 1878.
Closure and re-opening
The Bearley and Great Alne section was closed during both World Wars. In 1917 the line closed and the track was removed, not to be reopened and the track replaced until 1922 (between Bearley and Great Alne) and 1923 for the remainder. The line closed again in 1939, but the Bearley and Great Alne section was reinstated the next year for goods traffic. The line between Bearley and Great Alne was used to bring workers from Coventry to a factory about a mile from Great Alne station after their original works was bombed in the attacks on Coventry in 1940.
Final closure
Although the Hatton to Bearley section remains open the rest of the line closed for passengers in 1947, and completely in 1951.