THE Great Western Railway Company was founded in 1833 and Isambard Kingdom Brunel, then aged 29, was appointed engineer.

He selected a route from London to Bristol which ran north of the Marlborough Downs connecting Paddington to Reading, Didcot, Swindon and Bath.

The section of the route from Reading to Swindon was completed in 1840 and Wantage Road station was opened in 1846.

On December 7, 1964, as a result of the Beeching Report, British Railways withdrew passenger services from Wantage Road and all other intermediate stations between Didcot and Swindon.

According to the 1961 census, the population of Wantage and Grove was approximately 7,800. In 2011 it was 18,500.

In 50 years the population has grown by about 11,000. With the current plans for housing development, it’s likely to grow by another 15,000 in the next 15 years.

The number of cars licensed in the UK has gone from about 10 million in 1965 to 30 million in 2011. The total distance travelled by car in the UK since 1965 has increased by 344 per cent. We now travel approximately 250 billion miles a year. It’s no wonder our roads are congested.

In June 2009 the Association of Train Operating Companies produced a report called 'Connecting Communities' in which it was suggested that Wantage Road Station would be a viable station to re-open during any expansion of the rail network.

Articles in the Herald have highlighted the news that county councillors have unanimously agreed to investigate the business case for re-opening the station.

Ed Vaizey MP has started discussions to take forward exciting proposals to open a new rail line from Oxford to Bristol. Importantly for us, this new line could allow for the reopening of Wantage Road station at Grove.

There is the problem that despite assurances to the contrary, the work done by Network Rail on the new bridge has made it almost impossible to keep the station in its original location. Planning applications approved for the area north of Monks Farm will make it very difficult to move the station to the west.

It could be moved even further west to be north of Grove Airfield but given the problems with gaining agreement for the 2,500 homes and associated schools and other infrastructure that we so badly need, the chances of getting land to build a new station and the required car parking don’t seem very high.

Network Rail, when asked, said that they had no plans for our station.

Will the station reopen in my lifetime?