Ministers urged to reopen rail lines
More than a million people across England could gain access to the rail network through reopening disused lines, building new stations, and introducing passenger services on heritage tracks, according to a report.
The Association of Train Operating Companies (Atoc) said the development of many towns is being restrained because of poor transport connections and traffic congestion following the mass closure of stations in the 1960s and 70s.
Although 27 new lines and 68 stations have been opened since 1995 to cope with increased demand – passenger numbers are 30% higher now than in 1963 – development has been ‘piecemeal’ with no assessment of national rail priorities, according to Atoc.
While the report welcomed the government commitment to introducing 1,300 extra carriages, starting a major programme of rail improvements by 2014, and considering new high speed lines, Atoc urged ministers to not overlook the potential of smaller scale schemes.
The report found 14 areas with populations of over 15,000 with a strong business case for a new line including Fleetwood, Lancashire; Wisbech, Cambridgeshire; and Ringwood, Hampshire.
The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) welcomed the report, adding it would like to see more trams in urban areas and improvements to walking and cycling routes to stations.
Ralph Smyth, CPRE’s senior transport campaigner, said: ‘The report’s focus on small schemes that can be delivered quickly to benefit the maximum number of people is long overdue and very welcome.
‘Politicians have been happy to make promises on high speed rail, with the comfort of knowing that spending decisions are in the distant future.
‘Let’s see if they are willing to support rural rail now when hard choices need to be made on funding.’
Imelda Havers, managing director of consultancy Bluefish Regeneration, said: 'We welcome the thinking behind the report which is to put communities and their needs ahead of short-term accounting considerations of the network itself.
'There have been several examples in recent years of heritage railways protecting previously closed lines, which have in turn been reintegrated into the national rail network.
'We would therefore expect the government to be working closely with heritage railway providers to take these findings forward.'
When British Railways was created in 1948, the rail network extended 19,598 miles with 6,685 stations. Today it stretches less than 10,000 miles with just 2,517 stations.
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