EAST LANCS AND ISLE OF WIGHT IN ‘REVERSING BEECHING’ PROPOSALS

Two preserved railways are included in the first round of the Government’s ‘Reversing Beeching’ reopening proposals.

The Department for Transport launched a £500 million ‘Restoring Your Railway Fund’ in January, inviting MPs and local authorities to submit proposals for reinstating closed lines and stations.

Among the ten schemes approved for funding towards feasibility studies are the reopening of the ShanklinVentnor and Ryde-Newport lines – the latter occupied by the Isle of Wight Steam Railway between Smallbrook Junction and Wootton – and the reinstatement of passenger services from Rochdale to Bury, sharing the East Lancashire Railway’s line from Heywood to Bury.

ELR vice-president Keith Whitmore explained that the proposal is for an extension of Manchester’s Metrolink tram system, using battery-operated tram-trains, and to be undertaken in two stages – initially from Oldham town centre through Rochdale and Castleton to a shared station with the ELR at Heywood, with the possibility of a later extension to Bury (using the existing Metrolink station rather than the ELR’s Bolton Street headquarters).

He said: “The ELR is considering options, and we will comment as appropriate once we’ve gone through the process with Transport for Greater Manchester.”

The IoWSR said that it “cautiously welcomes” the announcement, but added: “We would need to be satisfied that any shared use of our railway would be in the best interests of Isle of Wight tourism and our visitors, volunteers and members.”

Although the IoWSR’s Strategic Vision includes a “long-term aspiration” to extend to Newport, it confirmed that it has “no immediate plans” to do so.

●● Torbay MP Kevin Foster and Totnes MP Anthony Mangnall also submitted a bid for a study into returning National Rail services to Goodrington and Churston, part of the Dartmouth Steam Railway; while bids were made by the Cambrian Heritage Railways, for its proposed community line between Oswestry and Gobowen, and by West Cornwall MP Derek Thomas on behalf of two Helston Railway directors.

BRIAN DOBBS ‘A4’ Union of South Africa heads a Rawtenstall-bound train near Heap Bridge, on the eastern section of the East Lancashire Railway between Bury and Heywood, on January 19. This part of the line is the subject of a bid for tram-train services under the Government’s £500m ‘Reversing Beeching’ scheme.