Chipping Norton Railway
The Chipping Norton Railway opened in 1855, first linking the town of Chipping Norton with the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway at Kingham station, with a single station in the form of Sarsden Halt initially located on the route.
History
William Bliss, owner of Bliss's Tweed Mills, realised the railway could be useful to him in allowing not only for his cloth products to be taken to buyers, but also for coal to be brought to the mills, which at the time used water power instead of steam. Bliss wrote to the Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton Railway in 1846 to ask for a railway link to Chipping Norton, but this did not yield results. He wrote again to the railway company in September 1847, asking for a "passenger station at Bleddington Mill". A meeting held at the Red Lion pub, Banbury, on 21 April 1851 promoted a railway to connect Banbury with the OW&W's route: this line ran further north than the Chipping Norton Railway would eventually run.A different project to that discussed in Banbury in 1851 was the "East & West of England Junction Railway", designed to leave the OW&Ws line at Bruern Crossing, before joining the route which was to be later used for the Chipping Norton Railway. In 1853, William Bliss, accompanied by Mr Wilkins of Chipping Norton, led a deputation to the OW&W with a request to have a station constructed at Bledington: this was refused, with representatives from the railway company being sent to explain their reasoning. Bliss and Robert Hitchman, of Hitchman's Breweries, decided to get the railway line built themselves. Bliss met with Sir Samuel Moreton Peto in 1854 and discussed the matter of the railway.
Construction on the Chipping Norton Railway began in September 1854 by Peto & Betts. [Sir Sir John Fowler, 1st Baronet|John Fowler, 1st Baronet|John Fowler] was the engineer. The line was completed by Whit Monday 1855. The line joined the existing OW&W route at Chipping Norton Junction station. It used the standard gauge of 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in. Sir Samuel Moreton Peto put £14,000 of his own money towards building the railway; another £12,000 was raised by subscription list from the inhabitants of Chipping Norton and the area by William Bliss to meet the total price estimate of £26,000.
The Chipping Norton Railway was purchased by the OW&W after the latter deemed the railway financially sound in 1859. That year also saw Parliament pass a Bill for an extension of six miles from Chipping Norton Junction to Bourton-on-the-Water, with a station being provided for Stow-on-the-Wold. The West Midland Railway absorbed the OW&W in 1860, and in 1862 trains began running between Bourton and Chipping Norton Junction.
In 1864, a proposal was made by John Fowler and Edward Wilson for an extension to the Chipping Norton Railway which would run through Swerford. This proposal also saw the extension connect to the Great Western Railway route one mile closer to Banbury than that which was eventually built.
An extension to the Chipping Norton Railway between Chipping Norton and Kings Sutton opened on 6 April 1887. The cost of building the tunnel and two viaducts at Hook Norton was £25,000. A flyover was constructed at Chipping Norton Junction in 1906, allowing for trains to run through from Banbury to Cheltenham without having to stop and reverse at the station. The new stations on the extension were Rollright Halt, Hook Norton, Bloxham, and Adderbury. Stations were planned for Edward's Lime Kiln, Charlton Kings, and Great Rollright, but the former was not served.
The Great Western Railway had, according to J.H. Russell, "already agreed to work the line in perpetuity" by 1875.