The Stratford on Avon Railway[note 1] was a branch railway line opened in 1860, to connect the town of Stratford-upon-Avon to the Great Western Railway main line at Hatton, in England. It was worked by the GWR. In 1861 it was connected through Stratford to a branch line from Honeybourne, and this later enabled the development of a through mineral traffic. The company was absorbed by the GWR in 1883.
In 1906 a trunk route was opened from Honeybourne to Cheltenham, so that the GWR now had an independent route from Birmingham to Bristol, partly over the Stratford Railway, which was modernised for the purpose. In 1907-1908 the GWR’s position was further enhanced when North Warwickshire Line opened, making a shorter route from Birmingham and joining the original line at Bearley.
The heavy mineral traffic, and later the through passenger traffic, was diverted away from the line, and it was curtailed at Stratford. It remains in passenger use as the Stratford upon Avon branch of the Chiltern Main Line, and the Stratford end of the North Warwickshire Line.
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