Cassington Halt railway station

Cassington Halt was opened by the Great Western Railway on 9 March 1936.^[1][2] It had a single 100-foot (30 m) platform and was unstaffed.^[3] As the platform could not accommodate a full train, passengers alighting here had to travel in the last coach (in the case of Down trains) or the front coach (in the case of Up trains).^[3] The halt came under the responsibility of the stationmaster at Eynsham and passengers joining trains had to be booked at either Witney or Oxford.^[3] An instruction was issued to guards to travel in the front coach of Up services between Eynsham and Yarnton so that fares could be collected from passengers joining the train.^[3]

The halt, which was the penultimate station to be opened on the Witney Railway, had a precast concrete platform on which was a traditional wooden shelter with a saw-tooth awning.^[4] It was lit by oil lamps which were trimmed and extinguished by the guards of trains calling at the halt.^[4] The station was located on the south side of the A40 road which was carried over the line by a traditional Cotswold stone bridge.^[5] Following the Second World War, the halt was resited to the north side of the A40 bridge to allow passengers to reach it via a private road rather than having to cross the busy road.^[6][7]

British Railways closed the station on 18 June 1962.^[1][2][8] Full closure of the line did not come until Monday 2 November 1970.^[9]

The trackbed has been concreted over to provide an access road to the sand extraction sites in the area.^[10]

There is a strong case to reopen the railway given the severe traffic congestion on the roads to and from Oxford. ^[11]