Network Rail plan to move Morton signal box to Vale of Berkeley Railway should Newark and Sherwood District Council approve

Plans to relocate an unused signal box more than a hundred miles has been submitted to Newark and Sherwood District Council.

The application, by Network Rail, would see the signal box at Morton dismantled and re-erected more than 140 miles away.

Gary Walsh, route director for Network Rail, said: “We have submitted a planning application to move Morton signal box in Nottinghamshire to the Vale of Berkeley Railway in Gloucestershire.

“The signal box is no longer used, after the signalling control was moved to the East Midlands Control Centre in 2016.

“Relocation would allow it to be used as a working signal box again, as well as meaning the funds which are currently used to maintain it could be redirected into the operational railway.

“Planning permission is required to move Morton signal box due to it being in a conservation area.

“We are working closely with the Vale of Berkeley Railway and the Railway Heritage Trust, and, if successful, we will make sure that the important piece of railway history is carefully dismantled and relocated.”

Andrew Savage, of the Heritage Railway Trust, said the new location was perfect for the signal box.

“The box now has no operational purpose as far as the railway is concerned, and is locked up and potentially subject to vandalism,” he said.

“The box is of a design that was meant to be relocated, as shown in the heritage statement, and its movement to the Vale of Berkeley Railway will ensure its survival, along with the adjacent crossing keeper’s hut, in a way that enables it to be seen in its full working order by members of the public.”

The trust said it would give a grant towards the relocation of the box.

Fiskerton Parish Council unanimously supported the proposal.

The final decision on the application will be made by Newark and Sherwood District Council.