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Billions of pounds earmarked for road-building schemes should be diverted to reopen almost 100 railway stations that were shut as part of the Beeching cuts, ministers are to be told.

Lord Adonis, the former head of the government’s National Infrastructure Commission, will today call for a national programme designed to “reverse Beeching” and reinstate hundreds of miles of passenger lines closed during the 1960s and 1970s.

Richard Beeching, the former chairman of British Railways, advocated the closure of huge swathes of the network deemed to be loss-making, including more than 2,300 stations, in 1963.

In a speech to the Institute for Public Policy Research, Lord Adonis will say that the systemic reopening of mothballed lines is needed to reinvigorate towns and villages across the country…

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) is delighted to invite you to a speech by Lord Andrew Adonis on reversing the Beeching rail closures for large towns which lost their rail services fifty or more years ago. This will take place on Friday 7th June, 09.15-11.00am at IPPR, 14 Buckingham Street, London, WC2N 6DF. Please arrive at 09.15am for a 09.30am start.

In this speech, Andrew Adonis will argue that a key feature of future transport policy should be to ensure that all large towns are reconnected to the railway system, reversing the Beeching closures which left dozens of major populations centres without rail services.

Major towns from Washington in the North-East to Gosport on the south coast were severed from the railway system by post-war rail closures. These towns have suffered increasing isolation as rail has returned as a principal means of transport. Reversing these closures would benefit socially and economically vital activities such as young people getting to and from college and work, older people keeping occupied and in touch with friends relatives, tourism, and workers being able to travel easily to and from large cities without getting stuck in growing congestion. It is also a green policy for a green Britain.

Lord Adonis, a former Transport Secretary and architect of HS2, will propose a policy of systematically connecting these large towns to the railway system over the next 25 years. He will set out the key elements of a ‘Reverse Beeching’ plan, including practicalities, timescales, and finances.

His title ‘Reshaping Britain’s Railways for the 21st Century’ echoes Beeching’s infamous 1963 report ‘Reshaping Britain’s Railways.’

Over one million people across Britain live in the 27 biggest towns without a railway station, including Gosport, Dudley, Newcastle under Lyme, Washington, Waterlooville, Halesowen, Leigh, West Bridgford, Skelmersdale, Blyth, Dunstable, Woodley, Coalville, Abingdon, Swadlincote, Wisbech, Rushden, Darlastan, Ashington, Witney, Haverhill, Aldridge, Ferndown, Kingswinford and Daventry.

‘Reversing Beeching’ would be transformational for the communities concerned and make a major contribution to building ‘One Nation’ and a green Britain in the next generation.

I see Portishead is NOT amongst the towns listed to be re-connected to the rail network.

"Over one million people across Britain live in the 27 biggest towns without a railway station, including Gosport, Dudley, Newcastle under Lyme, Washington, Waterlooville, Halesowen, Leigh, West Bridgford, Skelmersdale, Blyth, Dunstable, Woodley, Coalville, Abingdon, Swadlincote, Wisbech, Rushden, Darlastan, Ashington, Witney, Haverhill, Aldridge, Ferndown, Kingswinford and Daventry. "

Woodley? Woodley is only a town for political reasons, it is clearly a Reading suburb. If it was within the borough boundary it wouldn't be on this list. It has railways on two sides of it and Earley station is close enough to it's 'town centre' (shopping precinct) to count it being on the rail network. It's a bit like suggesting Bradley Stoke or west Swindon are large towns without a railway. Political boundaries create confusion with stats like this.

I guess that I'd need to read the speech, but it sounds a little simplistic a methodology.

Whilst it might be a nice idea to reconnect say, Witney or Abingdon to the rail network, in reality that means ire-instating fairly lengthy branch lines through rural areas, which in many cases the trackbed will have been built on, and finding paths for trains through stations like Oxford that are already congested. Not to mention that the likes of Witney and Abingdon already have frequent express bus services - the problem is that they don't necessarily take people to the suburban hospitals/schools/offices/industrial parks where their jobs are.

I see Portishead is NOT amongst the towns listed to be re-connected to the rail network.

I guess that I'd need to read the speech, but it sounds a little simplistic a methodology.

Woodley? Woodley is only a town for political reasons, it is clearly a Reading suburb. If it was within the borough boundary it wouldn't be on this list. It has railways on two sides of it and Earley station is close enough to it's 'town centre' (shopping precinct) to count it being on the rail network.

Indeed - I think that Earley Station actually lies in the civil parish of Woodley!

There seems to be an anomalous "jink" in the parish boundary just west of the station taking the railway into Woodley all the way east to the Loddon. Looks like you pass into Earley as soon as you step out of the station.

Amazing how Berkshire local government boundaries feature in this forum - see Green Park Station forum for more......