Editing Severn Valley Railway (section)

==Extensions to the railway==
{{More citations needed section|date=March 2009}}

===Northwards===
Extending the preserved railway north from Bridgnorth was mooted by groups within the SVR as early as the mid-1970s, but the first plan was dismissed as impossible by the then Board of the SVR. For many years the SVR official website confirmed that 'the railway land north of Bridgnorth has been long since sold, and there is now no possibility of Severn Valley trains reaching Ironbridge and Shrewsbury ever again'.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.svr.co.uk/History.aspx |title=History of the Severn Valley Railway |at=Consolidation |access-date=20 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130314153156/http://www.svr.co.uk/History.aspx |archive-date=14 March 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2002 the Board reported that third party enquiries into the possibility of EU funding to restore rail communication between Bridgnorth and Ironbridge had resulted in press reports that the SVR wished to extend to Ironbridge; the Board agreed that it would monitor developments and would welcome seeing the results of any feasibility study.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Mellor |first=David |title=Boadroom Notes |journal=Severn Valley Railway News |issue=142 |date=Winter 2002–03 |pages=8, 67}}</ref>

In January 2019, [[Campaign for Better Transport (United Kingdom)|Campaign for Better Transport]] released a report identifying the line between Shrewsbury and Ironbridge which was listed as Priority 2 for reopening. Priority 2 is for those lines which require further development or a change in circumstances (such as housing developments).<ref>{{cite report |url=https://bettertransport.org.uk/sites/default/files/research-files/case-for-expanding-rail-network.pdf |page=42 |title=The case for expanding the rail network |publisher=Campaign for Better Transport |archive-date=22 April 2019 |access-date=23 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422130045/https://bettertransport.org.uk/sites/default/files/research-files/case-for-expanding-rail-network.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

In March 2021 an independent group, the Ironbridge Railway Trust (IRT), announced that they had made a bid to the government's 'Restoring Your Railway Ideas Fund' (RYR) to examine re-opening the line between Buildwas and Bridgnorth as a public railway, following the original route of the original Severn Valley branch wherever possible. The IRT application named both the Severn Valley Railway and Telford Steam Railway among the stakeholders, noting that the SVR had expressed an interest in understanding the outputs of the proposed RYR study although no discussions on operational engagement had been held, while the TSR had expressed caution about IRT's concept and proposed a Power Station-Ironbridge tram scheme, but was willing to work together going forward.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ironbridge-railway-trust.org.uk/IRT-News/IRT-news.html |title=News from the Ironbridge Railway Trust |date=16 March 2021 |website=Ironbridge Railway Trust |access-date=20 March 2021 |archive-date=17 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210517155346/http://ironbridge-railway-trust.org.uk/IRT-News/IRT-news.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The bid was considered in the third Ideas Fund round<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/restoring-your-railway-fund-bids-received |title=Restoring Your Railway Fund: bids received |date=27 October 2021 |website=GOV.UK |publisher=Department for Transport |access-date=28 October 2021 |archive-date=27 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027153547/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/restoring-your-railway-fund-bids-received |url-status=live }}</ref> but was not one of the successful bids.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/restoring-your-railway-fund-successful-bids |title=Restoring Your Railway Fund: successful bids |date=27 October 2021 |website=GOV.UK |publisher=Department for Transport |access-date=28 October 2021 |archive-date=27 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027152038/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/restoring-your-railway-fund-successful-bids |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Westwards===
The former Tenbury Line trackbed is substantially intact as far as Newnham Bridge station before it is hemmed in by modern development. Several underbridges are missing, including the substantial Dowles Viaduct over the river Severn, a span over the Bewdley to Bridgnorth road and a brick span at Cleobury.{{CN|date=April 2025}}

===Eastwards===
No extension eastwards towards Wolverhampton was ever built, although several schemes were proposed. These included:

{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title = Bridgnorth, Wolverhampton and Staffordshire Railway Act 1866
| type = Act
| parliament = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title = An Act for making Railways from Bridgnorth in Shropshire to Wolverhampton and other Districts in Staffordshire; and for other Purposes.
| year = 1866
| citation = [[29 & 30 Vict.]] c. cxxix
| introduced_commons = 
| introduced_lords = 
| territorial_extent = 
| royal_assent = 28 June 1866
| commencement = 
| expiry_date = 
| repeal_date = 
| amends = 
| replaces = 
| amendments = 
| repealing_legislation = 
| related_legislation = 
| status = 
| legislation_history = 
| theyworkforyou = 
| millbankhansard = 
| original_text = 
| revised_text = 
| use_new_UK-LEG = 
| UK-LEG_title = 
| collapsed = yes
}}
* An act of Parliament, the '''{{visible anchor|Bridgnorth, Wolverhampton and Staffordshire Railway Act 1866}}''' ([[29 & 30 Vict.]] c. cxxix), for construction of the '''{{visible anchor|Bridgnorth, Wolverhampton and Staffordshire Railway}}''' which received royal assent in June 1866. Money could not be raised and the powers lapsed.{{sfn|Marshall|1989|pp=114–120}} 
* The Wolverhampton and Bridgnorth Light Railway which was to be built under the terms of the [[Light Railways Act 1896]] ([[59 & 60 Vict.]] c. 48). The route, which was planned by civil engineer WB Myers-Beswick, would have run from junctions with the GWR and LNWR at Priestfield to join the SVR south of Bridgnorth with a separate station in Bridgnorth Low Town.{{sfn|Marshall|1989|pp=114–120}} Further details{{where|date=December 2017}} show the line of the proposed railway bordered the lane between Sutton Mill and Sutton Farm, Dog Kennel and land owned by a Henry Cavendish Cavendish{{who|date=December 2017}} and Bridgnorth Rural District Council.
* The [[Great Western Railway (New Railways) Act 1905]] ([[5 Edw. 7]]. c. xcviii) of 11 July 1905 which granted powers for construction of a line from near [[Oxley, Wolverhampton|Oxley]] viaduct via Wombourne to join the Severn Valley Line at two junctions 1 mile and 1½ miles south of Bridgnorth. These powers were again granted in the [[Great Western Railway (Additional Powers) Act 1924]] ([[14 & 15 Geo. 5]]. c. l) but although the [[Wombourne branch line|Wombourne branch]] was completed in 1925, the connection to Bridgnorth was abandoned.{{sfn|Marshall|1989|pp=114–120}} There is thought{{by whom|date=December 2017}} to be some evidence of such a spur from the Severn Valley Line immediately south of Crossing Cottage near Eardington.{{Citation needed|date=December 2017}}

===Southwards===
The SVR owns the trackbed of the former Bewdley to Hartlebury section through Mount Pleasant Tunnel to a point 302 yards beyond its southern portal, approximately mid-way to the former location of Burlish Crossing.{{sfn|Marshall|1989|p=184}} In late 2015 the railway announced that Rail Safety Solutions had taken a lease on the portion as far as Mount Pleasant Tunnel, which they will use to provide training to Network Rail apprentices.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=SVR News |issue=192 |date=Winter 2015 |title=General Manager's Notes}}</ref>

Between Burlish and Stourport station, the alignment of the former Bewdley to Hartlebury section has been redeveloped for housing. However, from the Hartlebury direction the trackbed is intact as a bridleway from Mitton (the eastern throat of the original station), with only a span over the A449 Worcester to Kidderminster main road missing. The abutments are intact. Almost all of the trackbed is in council ownership, and in 2007 they expressed an interest in reopening as a commuter line.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hereford/worcs/7017540.stm |title=Railway line 'would cut traffic' |publisher=BBC News |access-date=25 October 2007 |date=28 September 2007 |archive-date=9 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231109234830/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hereford/worcs/7017540.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>