Thank you to Lympstone Commuter for his thread on "railways closed longer than they were open" and members came up with some fascinating answers - and a whole lot of them too. I wrote:
Looking through all the posts, I wonder which (if any) of these long lost lines could make a useful comeback today, no doubt for different purposes to the original in many cases. Ignoring little matters like trackbeds lost under growths of houses and blown up viaducts, I came up with three to put forward for the next round of government funding, in addition to the Lynton and Barnstaple where the team is probably looking to do the job without DfT» , Network Rail, GRIP▸ , etc.
My three are all parts of somewhat wider schemes as they take trains along the "gone longer that open" section then onto other elements. Interesting thought ... rather than dilute this thread, let's see what else people come up with as we complete Lympstone Commuter's quest.
With solutions to the quiz being completed with the Bideford, Westward Ho! and Apppledore ... I'm moving on to start a sequel thread asking which of those long-gone lines would have a use in current times (let's say later in this decade, once back so a new normal). Ignore "built over", ignore "NIMBY", ignore "Ooze gonna pay" ignore "does not fit in with the local transport plan", ignore "crosses outside our area", ignore "damages newts" ... just look at bums on seats. I came up with this top three.
Andover to TidworthLugershall and Tidworth were modest in size when the last passenger trains ran to Tidworth in 1955 and Ludgershall in 1961. In recent years they have grown, with Tidworth becoming the home of a supergarrison where troops no longer based in Germany will reside. Local publcity talks of it being a great place to settle and of work opportunities in nearly towns, and it would be London commutable too. Population - 25,000 by 2026; about the same size as Warminster which hosts around 350,000 ticketed journeys per year.
Yate to ThornburyAnother growing town that looks towards Bristol. With a railway that had not closed to passengers during the second world war, would today see trains running clockface via Tytherington, Iron Acton, Yate, Bristol Parkway and Filton Abbey Wood into Bristol? I note that all five intermediate stations listed did not exist 50 years ago - things can be (re)built.
Severn Beach to PilningMaking a network not disjoint services to a patchwork of random stations. Bristol outer loop - Temple Meads, current stations to St. Anddrew's Road, then Chittening and Seabank, Severn Beach, Redwick and New Passage, Pilning, Aztec West, Patchway, Filton Abbey Wood, Horfield, Ashley Down, and current stations into Temple Meads. Change at Pilning for services to / from South Wales; also Park and Ride there providing an extra parkway off the nearby motorway network ...
I never say "never" - too final - but I do say "I can't see that" to some ideas; although I've picked out the three examples above as being plausible, I can't see those same prospects for some of the other long-gone lines ... that brings us back to the Bideford, Westward Ho! and Appledore which ... I would sadly expect to have gone, even if it hade made in to
BR▸ days.
