UK: Miles of rail line could be re-opened

[John Ashworth]

Miles of rail line could be re-opened

Miles of railway line shut under the Beeching Axe could be reopened under an overhaul of the rail industry.

Telegraph
By David Millward, Transport Editor 11:00AM GMT 09 Mar 2012

It has been more than 50 years since Dr Richard Beeching recommended the closure of hundreds of branch lines in his report The Reshaping of British Railways.

More than 4,000 miles of railway and 3,000 stations were closed in the decade following the report.

But now disused stations and lines could be brought back into life as the network adapts to shifts in the population over the last 50 years.

The move comes against a backdrop demand for rail travel, which has seen more people using the trains than at any time since the late 1920s.

Currently there are 1.35 billion journeys a year, nearly 500 million than a decade a year on a network which has barely grown after the wholesale line closures of the early 1960s.

The change reflects both economic growth since the 1990s and a rise in the number of people wiling to commute by train rather than drive.

“It is clear that some lines were shut in the 1960s which should not have been shut,” Norman Baker, the local rail minister, told the Daily Telegraph. “There is a consistent drumbeat about lines which should be open.

“Re-opening lines helps local communities, gets people back onto trains which has economic and social benefits.”
Work is already under way on reopening a rail line between Bicester in Oxfordshire and Bletchley in Buckinghamshire.

Eventually, it is hoped, this could restore the “Varsity Line”, linking Oxford and Cambridge.

Other potential candidates include:

– The Lewes-Uckfield route in East Sussex, providing an alternative to the Brighton mainline.
– The line between Bourne End and High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire which would link the Great Western and Chiltern lines.
– The Okehampton-Bere Alstom link, which would provide a second route between Exeter and Plymouth
– The line between Stansted and Braintree in Essex.

Ministers hope that the Government's plans to cut industry’s running costs will make reopening lines more affordable.

Also plans to devolve control of local rail services to councils will enable them to identify candidates. especially with the Government planning to give them a greater say under how cash is spent.

Under the proposals published earlier this week, local authorities would be expected to fund the schemes for at least three years to prove they are viable, after which the Department for Transport would take over responsibility – subject to cash being available.

The Government’s proposals were welcomed by Stephen Joseph, executive director of the Campaign for Better Transport.

”I think it is now generally accepted that the Beeching report went too far. There are a number of sizeable places that aren't on the rail network where reopening lines and stations would make good economic sense, and there are also 'missing links' between key towns.

“Many of these places suffer from traffic congestion and people really want a choice in how they get around, rather than being forced to use cars.

“We hope the Government will find ways of helping local communities develop reopening schemes, as a first step we'd like to see possible reopening routes safeguarded in the planning system so they don't get built on."

Ralph Smyth, of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, described the announcement as a “definite move forward”
But, he added, “The funding isn’t there and many areas are prioritising road schemes.

“The Government needs to tell councils to come up with rail schemes and change the funding rules to make it possible.”