News stories |
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Against the odds, the UK's network of disused railway lines continues to make the news as the 21st Century throws up a host of transport, environmental and health challenges.
This news page will provide links to relevant stories.
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Last updated |
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6th April 2012 |
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28/12/10
Lancashire Telegraph
Plans have been unveiled for two new cycle links - one using a disused railway trackbed - which council chiefs hope will encourage people in a West Craven town to adopt a healthier lifestyle.
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25/12/10
BBC News
A 19th Century viaduct in Cornwall is to be closed for two weeks for an in-depth assessment and structural survey, according to Cornwall Council.
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Pressure to safeguard trackbed
22/12/10
The Citizen (Burnley)
Pressure is mounting on Lancashire County Council to accept responsibility for the disused railway line between Colne and Skipton so it can be reopened.
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21/12/10
Express & Star
A railway turntable manufactured in the Black Country has been dug up in Israel, where it is set to become a centrepiece at a museum.
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11/12/10
This is Bristol
A busy commuter road in Bristol will remain closed until next summer due to landslip problems created by a disused railway tunnel.
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3/12/10
This is South Devon
Work has started on the first stage of a recreational trail along the old railway line from Bovey Tracey.
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15/11/10
This is Staffordshire
350 passengers were aboard the first train to travel the former line between Leekbrook and Cauldon which is reopening 75 years after its axe first fell.
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11/11/10
BBC News
A disused railway bridge at a Norfolk port may be beyond repair, an in-depth study has found.
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10/11/10
The News (Portsmouth)
The Hayling Billy Line, which opened in 1867 to connect Havant to Hayling Island, will be given the special designation of a nature reserve by Hampshire County Council.
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10/11/10
This is Gloucestershire
A new five-mile cycle path along the Wye Valley has moved a step closer to fruition after Forest of Dean councillors voted to support it.
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3/11/10
Bolton News
A disused cutting is to get a makeover after members of the public were asked to vote on five eyesores in Bolton's Community Payback scheme.
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2/11/10
Bath Chronicle
Rail chiefs have applied for planning permission to safeguard the 170-year-old former Twerton Station, designed by Brunel, which has been targeted by squatters.
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28/10/10
Border Telegraph
Advanced works for the reopening of the Borders Railway will be completed this week with the demolition of a bridge at Cowbraehill, north of Stow.
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27/10/10
This is Exeter
Work has started on a key section of the Exe Estuary Trail, along an old railway, to provide the "missing link" on the route between Exeter and Exmouth.
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15/10/10
Free Press
The 50th anniversary of the Severn Railway Bridge disaster will be commemorated by an exhibition.
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11/10/10
Road.cc
Supporters of a planned £750,000 cycle path using the disused railway through the Wye Valley have set up a group to highlight the benefits of the proposed scheme.
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7/10/10
BBC News
An inspection of a disused railway bridge in Great Yarmouth, which has become a town landmark, is taking place to find out the costs of restoring it.
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5/10/10
BBC News
Transport chiefs say they still want to reopen Belmont Viaduct in Durham despite their original plans falling through.
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1/10/10
Daily Mail
A railway fanatic has dismantled Tetbury's former signal box and transported it 150 miles to be rebuilt in his Derbyshire garden.
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29/9/10
Edinburgh Evening News
A disused station is to be given a new lease of life by an enthusiast who has saved it from dilapidation.
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27/9/10
BBC News
Network Rail has agreed to pay for a final assessment of the plan to reinstate the Todmorden Curve, allowing trains from Burnley to head into Manchester.
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17/9/10
Leamington Today
A project to build a foot and cycle path along the disused line connecting Kenilworth and Berkswell have survived council cutbacks for the time being.
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15/9/10
Dunstable Today
The first of six disused railway bridges will be demolished next week as construction work on the busway linking Luton and Dunstable moves up a gear.
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14/9/10
BBC News
A campaign to get the disused railway line between east Lancashire and North Yorkshire reopened remains on track, its backers have said.
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14/9/10
Thorne & District Gazette
Roads are to close as Doncaster Council demolishes two old railway bridges near Sykehouse.
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10/9/10
Lancashire Evening News
Part of the landmark Vicars Bridge could be pulled down if plans are given the go-ahead by Preston Council.
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10/9/10
This is Leicester
Leicester Civic Society has created a plaque to mark the city's bowstring bridge at Braunstone Gate which was demolished in December.
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9/9/10
Lancashire Evening News
Work to bring trams back to Preston for the first time in 60 years, using part of the disused Longridge branch, is due to start this week.
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3/9/10
News & Star (Carlisle)
Campaigners who want to reopen Carlisle's disused Eden Viaduct as a cycle and footpath are increasingly frustrated at the lack of progress.
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2/9/10
Manchester Evening News
Councillors have agreed a plan for a footpath and cycleway is to be built between Montrose and the Northwater Viaduct along a disused railway line.
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2/9/10
Build.co.uk
Crossrail has announced the shortlist for the refurbishment of the disused Connaught Tunnel.
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1/9/10
Hunts Post 24
BAM Nuttall, contractor for a guided busway along a disused railway line, can expect a £45 million bill from Cambridgeshire County Council that could take years to collect through the High Court.
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31/8/10
Manchester Evening News
A controversial £76 million guided busway plan using a disused railway trackbed in Greater Manchester has been put on hold.
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28/8/10
Press & Journal
Plans for a new footpath and cycleway connecting north Angus to Aberdeenshire have been unveiled.
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26/8/10
South Wales Argus
A new walking and cycling path along a former railway trackbed could be created between Chepstow and Tintern if a planning application gets the go ahead.
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26/8/10
Southern Reporter (Borders)
What is thought to be Britain's only surviving wooden railway footbridge still in its original locationwill be the subject of a special open day in the Borders this weekend.
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24/8/10
Daily Post (North Wales)
Plans to extend the Llangollen railway to Corwen along a disused trackbed look set to disintegrate if action is not taken promptly and red tape cut through.
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24/8/10
Border Counties Advertiser
An appeal has so far raised over £2,000 towards the restoration of Oswesrty Station and work has started on the platform.
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Dinting sidings up for auction
20/8/10
Bagshaws
Nine acres of former railway yard and museum, including the former station house and goods shed, will be sold by auction of 20th September.
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17/8/10
The News (Portsmouth)
Havant's Grade II-listed disused signal box may be lost unless urgent support is offered to restore it.
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16/8/10
BBC News
The 130-year-old Friargate bridge in Derby faces ruin if it is not the subject of a refurbishment project.
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4/8/10
North-West Evening Mail
Sandstone railways buildings which experts says are a "significant part of Barrow's history" are about to be demolished.
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28/7/10
BBC News
Campaigners have won the right to an appeal against the building of a £20 million rapid bus transit route in Hampshire, along a disused railway trackbed.
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28/7/10
Lakeland Echo
The Keswick Railway Path is getting a boost thanks to new panels revealing a wealth of history about its operational life and wildlife.
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28/7/10
Westmorland Gazette
A Grade II listed viaduct is in urgent need of repair after suffering serious frost damage during the unusually hard winter.
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26/7/10
North West Evening Mail
Farmers and landholders have successfully opposed plans for a 10-mile walking and cycling trail that would have passed through their land along an old railway trackbed.
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17/7/10
BBC News
Two disused railway tunnels near Bath have been handed over to the cycling charity Sustrans.
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12/7/10
Hereford Times
Bromyard Town Council has welcomed plans to convert the disused railway from Worcester across the Welsh border into a cycle route.
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8/7/10
This is Bath
Guided walks are being organised through a mile-long disused railway tunnel which will be at the heart of Bath's four-mile Two Tunnels Greenway.
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6/7/10
NW Reg Dev Agency
The £1.4 million Padiham Greenway, running along a former railway line through the centre of Padiham, has been unveiled.
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1/7/10
Northumberland Gazette
Ambitious plans to re-establish a railway line between Alnwick and Alnmouth are being recommended for approval, 42 years after the last train blew its whistle.
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1/7/10
The News (Portsmouth)
Hampshire councillors took just ten minutes to unanimously reject an application to have land along the disused Fareham to Gosport railway line designated as a village green.
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26/6/10
Malvern Gazette
An ambitious plan to put Bromyard at the centre of a cycle trail using disused railways to cut across north Herefordshire has received the backing of the town council.
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25/6/10
Dewsbury Reporter
47 years after it closed, Earlsheaton Station and the tunnel leading to it could become part of a new rambling route from Dewsbury to Ossett.
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21/6/10
Transport Scotland
Delivery of the Borders Railway has moved a step closer as Transport Scotland announced its intention to invite three organisations to tender for the contract.
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10/6/10
BBC News
An appeal against a decision to allow a rapid bus route to be built on a disused railway line in Hampshire has been thrown out by the Court of Appeal.
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8/6/10
Yorkshire Post
A visitor centre could be created at Millers Dale Station on the Monsal Trail if a funding bid for up to £3 million is successful.
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5/6/10
CycleSheffield
Fledborough Viaduct, spanning the River Trent, has opened for walkers and cyclists, forming part of a route from Clumber Park to Lincoln.
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2/6/10
This is Bath
A project to restore Combe Down and Devonshire tunnels for use by cyclists has been praised by a London-based think tank.
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25/5/10
England's NorthWest
Plans to redevelop Manchester Mayfield Station could include office space for more than 5,000 civil servants - a project being described as 'Whitehall of the North'.
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19/5/10
Kent News
Cyclepaths, footpaths and an enlarged beach feature in new plans for Folkestone harbour, with the railway viaduct reopened as a 'green walkway'.
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14/5/10
Wigan Today
A heritage group, campaigning to turn Haigh Viaduct into a footpath, has had its hopes dashed by Wigan Council on cost grounds.
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6/5/10
News & Star
The historic Eden (Waverley) Viaduct in Carlisle is a step closer to reopening after city councillors promised to push ahead with discussions to buy it from BRB(R).
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1/5/10
News & Star
Campaigners calling for Waverley Viaduct to be reopened to the public will address the council next week, keen to see it made safe for pedestrians and cyclists.
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20/4/10
BBC News
Bats are to be given a new home in a redundant railway tunnel on a cycle track in Caernarfon.
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15/4/10
Westmorland Gazette
A disused Cumbrian trackbed is to be given a new lease of life as a wheelchair-friendly footpath.
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7/4/10
This is Somerset
Work on a cycle path linking Midsomer Norton and Radstock will begin this summer after an agreement was signed by Sustrans and Bath & North East Somerset Council.
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6/4/10
News & Star (Cumbria)
The Liberal Democrats have vowed to reopen the Penrith-Keswick and Carlisle-Galashiels lines if the party comes to power.
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5/4/10
East Riding Mail
Railway enthusiasts want to breathe new life into a section of the disused Driffield-Malton line on which no trains have run for more than 50 years.
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29/3/10
Wales Online
Disused tunnels that criss-cross the South Wales Valleys should be reopened to unite communities and unleash a new era of carbon-free travel, according to a green transport campaigner.
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26/3/10
Lancashire Evening Post
Plans to run a tram demonstration along part of the disused Longridge line could be on the move within a month according to the scheme's leaders.
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19/3/10
Spenborough Guardian
The worst winter in 30 years has delayed the reopening of the Spen Valley Greenway - a footpath laid on the trackbed of a disused railway - until later this year.
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12/3/10
This is Gloucestershire
Network Rail is considering reopening a disused line running from Cheltenham to Stratford-on-Avon.
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Work starts on Two Tunnels
9/3/10
Bath Chronicle
Work has finally begun on a £1.9 million scheme to create a new four-mile cycling and walking route through Combe Down and Devonshire tunnels to the south of Bath.
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3/3/10
BBC News
The project to reopen the railway between Edinburgh and the Scottish Borders has officially started.
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3/3/10
BBC News
Whitstable residents are being asked for their views on bridge designs for the Crab & Winkle cycle path which will follow the disused Canterbury to Whitstable railway.
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1/3/10
This is Lincolnshire
An anti-social behaviour hotspot under a disused Lincoln railway bridge could be transformed into the starting point for a new cycle track.
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28/2/10
Gazette & Herald
A proposal to build a cycle path along the old Malmesbury to Dauntsey railway line has been resurrected as funding for the project is now available.
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22/2/10
This is Plymouth
Countryside campaigners have called for a feasibility study to be carried out into reopening the former Southern Railway route from Exeter to Plymouth.
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21/2/10
Wilts & Gloucs Standard
A project that could see a cycle track built along the former Malmesbury to Dauntsey railway line has been revived.
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19/2/10
This is South Devon
MPs want to see the former railway between Paignton and Brixham reopened but have been told they haven't a 'hope in hell' of it happening.
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18/2/10
Kenilworth Weekly News
Plans for a bridge forming part of a major footpath and bicycle track along a disused railway could get the go-ahead next week.
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17/2/10
This is Bath
Council officials are about to sign the paperwork which will allow work to start on the £1.9 million Two Tunnels path, involving a pair of disused tunnels to the south of Bath.
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9/2/10
The News (Portsmouth)
A bid to block a £20m bus route along a disused railway by getting key areas of land designated as village greens could go before a public inquiry.
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6/2/10
Road.cc
Whitstable's cyclists will soon be able to enjoy a traffic-free route down a disused trackbed after the project was granted planning permission by Kent County Council.
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2/2/10
Southern Daily Echo
Dozens of villagers have attended a public exhibition on plans to transform a former railway station in Sutton Scotney.
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29/1/10
Get Surrey
The high costs involved in reopening the old Cranleigh-Guildford railway are likely to cause Waverley Borough Council not to support any further investigation work into its revival.
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27/1/10
Road.cc
Cyclists are being urged to take part in a show of support for the Two Tunnels project which has reached a crucial point in its approval process.
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27/1/10
Pendle Today
How closure an important trans-Pennine rail link affected the community it served.
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26/1/10
Grough
Walkers, cyclists and horseriders will be able to use a disused railway trackbed near the North York Moors national park after ramblers won a long-running legal battle.
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25/1/10
This is Bath
The lights in two old railway tunnels which will be at the heart of a new cycle path will have to be switched off for four hours each night to protect bats.
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25/1/10
Road.cc
A 'party on the path' is being held this weekend to celebrate the opening of a new cycleway in Dorset, along the route of the disused Bridport branch.
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22/1/10
Hexham Courant
An abandoned railway tunnel near Corbridge, which opened in 1834 on the Newcastle to Carlisle line, could soon be infilled and sealed at a cost of £450,000.
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18/1/10
Oxford Mail
Developers are determined to demolish the former Blenheim & Woodstock railway station despite having two planning applications refused.
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12/1/10
BBC News
Councillors and business people hoping to get Wellington railway station reopened have had a fact-finding tour of the former station site.
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10/1/10
Gloucestershire Gazette
The wheels are still in motion to create an off-road cycleway between Uley, Dursley and Cam - along a disused trackbed - but the plans could take several more years to complete.
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8/1/10
Health Insurance Bulletin
Discussions are continuing over a new development at Wellington Hospital in London which could see an expansion into the disused Lords Tunnel.
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