Rother Valley Railway



The Rother Valley Railway (RVR) is a heritage railway project based at Robertsbridge in East Sussex, England. It takes its name from the original name for what later became the Kent and East Sussex Railway, running from Robertsbridge through to Headcorn in Kent, via Tenterden. The project is to replace the "missing link" between Robertsbridge, a station on the Tonbridge to Hastings mainline, and Bodiam on the Kent and East Sussex Railway, a heritage railway which operates from Bodiam to Tenterden.

Following a public inquiry in 2021, the government approved the project in May 2023 and granted the RVR's application for a Transport and Works Act Order. This came into force on 2 August, allowing the reinstatement scheme to be completed. There will be then an end-on link with the Kent and East Sussex at Bodiam enabling through-running of passenger trains between Tenterden and Robertsbridge for the first time since 1954. Heritage trains will make use of the Rother Valley Railway's own new station at Robertsbridge Junction, a short walk from the mainline station. Work is expected to begin on the final phase of reinstatement in 2024, following detailed surveys.

The final section
Reinstatement work at either end of the railway has already been completed. The remainder consists of a distance of about 3.5 kilometres. Several bridges need to be rebuilt between Northbridge Street and Junction Road, and three road crossings made, including the A21 Robertsbridge by-pass. The proposal to build this by-pass was the major reason preventing the acquisition from British Railways of this western section of the railway by the Tenterden Railway Company in the 1960s, and the railway land was subsequently sold off to local farmers. The scheme has met resistance from two landowners.

On 16 March 2017, Rother District Council granted planning permission for the reinstatement of the line between Northbridge Street and Junction Road. In 2018, the RVR applied for a Transport and Works Act order to give the statutory powers to complete the reinstatement of the line and operate it.

On 9 May 2023 it was announced that the Secretary of State had decided to make the Transport and Works Order. The Order is now in force.

Reinstatement so far
Since inception in 1991, the Rother Valley Railway has been acquiring parts of the former trackbed as and when possible. Planning permission was initially secured for its scheme at Robertsbridge, and the whole route is safeguarded in the Council's local plan. From 2009 to 2010 the RVR with help from K&ESR and volunteers were able to complete approximately 1 kilometre of reinstatement westwards from near Bodiam station, through Quarry Farm, to the B2244 (Junction Road). The first official train ran on the weekend of 19/20 March 2011. Attention then focussed on extending eastwards about half a kilometre from Robertsbridge to Northbridge Street, which entailed the rebuilding of five bridges. By June 2012, this section was also completed. Work followed on the new Robertsbridge Junction Station in readiness for the planned eventual join-up with K&ESR. A gala weekend in 2013 marked completion of the bulk of the new platform, and saw a steam passenger train operating at Robertsbridge for the first time since the early 1960s, running up to Northbridge Street. Further work followed. December 2016 saw the reconnection of the RVR to the Network Rail system some 50 years after closure. The connection allows for stock transfers, and use of the RVR by NR plant for training and other purposes; and the newly installed turntable can now also be accessed.

Further progress
Application to the Secretary of State for Transport for an order under the Transport and Works Act was submitted by RVR on 19 April 2018. Many representations for and against the draft order were submitted, and the Secretary of State for Transport announced that a public local inquiry would be held. This inquiry was scheduled to begin on 26 May 2020, was deferred, and eventually began in July 2021. It sat for 19 days and concluded on 3 September 2021. The Inspector submitted a 275 page report to the Secretary of State, with a recommendation to grant the application. The Secretary of State decided to make the Order and this was announced to the various parties concerned in a decision letter dated 9 May 2023. The Order was subsequently made, and came into force on 2 August. It includes powers of compulsory purchase. RVR welcomed the decision, and is making preparations to complete the work once surveys of two sections of route, now being acquired, have been carried out. Meanwhile in Spring 2019 work began to prepare the former trackbed between Austen's Bridge and Junction Road for tracklaying, this work being substantially completed by the end of 2020 and a section of track laid.

The RVR does not yet feature regular passenger trains, but the base at Robertsbridge houses a small shop and visitor centre open to the public each Sunday, in a building formerly used as the London terminus of the Orient Express. There is also a small collection of historic railway vehicles undergoing active preservation. The RVR also owns a steam locomotive, Charwelton, which works on the K&ESR but is currently under overhaul at Rolvenden. With the help of a grant from the Railway Heritage Trust, RVR acquired and removed the railway turntable from Hither Green depot in 2020, and following refurbishment this has been installed at Robertsbridge. The turntable was formally inagurated at a ceremony held on 31 May 2024, with the preserved steam locomotive Britannia being turned soon after it arrived for the major K&ESR 50th anniversary gala weekend. The embankment adjacent to the turntable has been widened to provide a site for the planned loco shed, and trackwork altered accordingly.

Origins of the scheme
The Kent & East Sussex Railway Preservation Society was formed in 1961 following closure of the line by British Railways.

After many trials and tribulations, the Tenterden Railway Company Limited was incorporated in 1971 as a company limited by guarantee, and in 1973 was successful in purchasing that part of the line between Tenterden and Bodiam. The company later became known as the Kent & East Sussex Railway (K&ESR). The original preservationists wanted to reopen the whole line through to Robertsbridge, but were refused permission by the then Transport Minister Barbara Castle to take over the western section between Bodiam and Robertsbridge, despite taking the Minister to the High Court. The western section was lifted and abandoned in the mid 1970s. The reason for this refusal was the Ministry plan to build a by-pass to take the A21 around Robertsbridge.

K&ESR focused efforts on the eastern end of the line. Trains first ran again on the K&ESR on 3 February 1974, between Tenterden and Rolvenden, and the line was gradually restored and extended in stages, reaching Wittersham Road in 1977, Northiam in 1990 and finally Bodiam on 2 April 2000, exactly 100 years to the day since the original opening of the line to passengers.

A separate company, the Rother Valley Railway (East Sussex) Ltd, was formed on 22 May 1991 with the approval of the Tenterden Railway Company to reinstate the railway between Bodiam and Robertsbridge. It has since simplified its name to Rother Valley Railway Ltd. The plan is that K&ESR will operate this extended railway once completed, as its constitution provides. The main reasons for a separate organisation were to allow K&ESR to remain focused on its existing activities, to avoid placing that activity at any financial risk, and to enable the new project to proceed with its own dedicated management team. Later this team was able to achieve charity status as the Rother Valley Railway Heritage Trust, operating through its company, the Rother Valley Railway Ltd.

Rolling stock
The following locomotives are on site In addition are a number of other wagons and carriages undergoing or awaiting restoration.
 * "Titan", a Drewry shunter, Vulcan Foundry works number D140.
 * "Dougal", a Drewry shunter, Vulcan Foundry works number D77.
 * D2112, an ex-BR class 03 shunter.