Beeching axe railway lines could re-open, says Transport Secretary

RAIL LINES closed during the notorious Beeching cuts of the 1960s could be reopened, the Transport Secretary has announced.

Chris Grayling said he wants to identify which routes would boost the economy, encourage house-building and ease overcrowding.

Restoring lost capacity forms part of the Government’s rail strategy which is being published today and will set out future plans for the network.

Thousands of stations and hundreds of branch lines were closed between 1964 and 1970 in the wake of a report by British Railways chairman Dr Richard Beeching.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has pledged to “accelerate” the reopening of the rail link between Oxford and Cambridge.

A document published by the Treasury as part of last week’s Budget confirmed funding for Network Rail to deliver phase two of the western section of East West Rail, from Bicester to Bedford and Milton Keynes to Princes Risborough, with passenger services running in 2023.

An independent East West Rail Company will be set up to deliver the central section between Bedford and Cambridge to open in the mid-2020s.

Mr Grayling said: “We need a new way of working to help our railway deal with the challenges it faces.

“We need to expand our network to unlock jobs and housing growth across the country.”

However, the plans were dismissed by Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary as “unambitious”. Andy McDonald, who had called for rail links to reopen before the Autumn Budget, described the current proposals as “more jam tomorrow from a Government which has run out of ideas”.