Bids were invited for the £500M ‘Restoring Your Railway’ ideas fund, set up to reverse some of the closures introduced by former British Rail boss Richard Beeching in the 1960s.

Schemes to be taken forward will be announced later this summer. Among the proposals being considered are the reopening of a line at Ferryhill in County Durham, restoring a connection from Consett to Newcastle, reinstating a station at Charfield in Gloucestershire and reintroducing the Bodmin to Wadebridge railway in Cornwall.

Campaign for Better Transport’s chief executive Darren Shirley welcomed the news that 50 schemes had been submitted for funding. “It shows the pent up demand from communities for connections into the rail network,” he told TP Weekly News.
“Progressing these schemes at pace will help communities with inadequate connectivity to link up to jobs, education and other important services in surrounding areas.”

Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris said: “Receiving so many bids underlines how passionate people are about reconnecting communities.
“Local MPs, councillors and community leaders are the greatest champions of their local lines, and I look forward to working with them to ensure the projects with the greatest potential have the support they need.”

He added that improving local transport links is vital to provide greater opportunities across the country, reconnect communities and help the country to recover from Coronavirus.

Suggestion of a reopening at Ferryhill is supported by campaign group Railfuture North East. Its secretary Ian Walker said a new station “would serve a wide catchment area including Ferryhill itself and the town of Spennymoor, as well as providing new rail travel opportunities to destinations such as Newcastle, Darlington and Middlesbrough”.

(Photograph: Brian Hart)