PLANS to revive a railway line to link Oxford, the Cotswolds and Stratford-upon-Avon could cost £16m less than previously thought.

Following a £70,000 study last year, campaigners say their revised proposals have cut costs from the original estimates.

It was initially expected to cost £70m but the study claims the bill could be brought down to £53.2m.

However, Oxfordshire County Council, which has already given £10,000 for the study, say it will not giving any more money towards the scheme, which its backers say would be good for tourism in the areas it would serve, including the home town of playwright William Shakespeare.

The authority gave the money in 2011 towards the study carried out by consultants Arup, who were commissioned by a steering group convened by Stratford-on-Avon District Council.

But Oxfordshire County Council deputy leader Rodney Rose said the campaigners from the Shakespeare Line Promotion Group and the Stratford-upon-Avon Rail Transport Group would have to seek funding from elsewhere.

The council’s railway priority was the proposed East-West rail link – a £500m project linking Oxford with Bedford, Milton Keynes and Aylesbury, he added.

The Oxford Mail revealed earlier this month that more than £20m of taxpayers’ money could be used for the East-West rail link with the county council asking to contribute the largest share of the overall cost. Mr Rose said: “Any money we get would go towards the East-West rail link.

“I can’t see us putting anything in to the Stratford line, even though we do support it.

“I had heard of the plans two or three years ago when they were asking us for money then but nothing since.”

The Warwickshire rail campaigners want to see the reinstatement of the closed line from Stratford to Long Marston, where a branch line serving a railway engineering depot connects to Honeybourne, on the Cotswold Line between Oxford and Worcester.

It would offer direct rail links between key tourist destinations, with a train every hour from Oxford to Stratford-upon-Avon, a quicker route between Stratford and London and a link between Warwickshire and Worcester.

The council claims it could also open Oxford up to businesses in the Midlands.

The new report, called Connecting Stratford, states the steering group will seek funding from rail firm First Great Western, Network Rail, and the Department for Transport.

Direct trains between Oxford and Stratford, via Banbury, ended in December 2004, when the London-Stratford service was transferred to Chiltern Railways.

Shakespeare Line Promotion Group spokesman Alan Bevan said: “It is about building links between Stratford and Oxford and exploiting the potentially lucrative income that tourists flying into the Midlands bring.

“It could open up Oxford to another world. When tourists fly in, if they don’t go to London they inevitably find that they can’t get around by train, and bus links are poor.

“It’s hugely frustrating for them and cuts off a source of income for many towns and cities.

“We are now pressurising official members, anyone who can help, to get the Government to supply funding.”

Others who contributed to the Arup study included Worcestershire County Council, West Midlands transport executive Centro, train operator First Great Western and developer St Modwen, which gave £10,000 in planning gain funding linked to a housing scheme at Long Marston.