Charity offers Eden Valley line to council for leasing
RAILWAY Paths Ltd has offered its section of the Appleby-Warcop line to the local council – in the hope that it could be reopened by the Eden Valley Railway.
RPL, a charity formed in 1998, owns just over 200 miles of disused railway trackbeds that were transferred to it from the British Rail Residuary Board after the privatisation of the national network. Of these, approximately 180 miles have been converted into cyclepaths, working mainly with cycling charity Sustrans, and also with local authorities – but RPL now wishes to relinquish the remaining sections.
As reported in issue 284 and on pages 68-73, this includes the 4½-mile section of the former Stratford-Cheltenham main line from Broadway to Honeybourne, which could be used to extend the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway northwards to the main line.
RPL also owns approximately 2½ miles of the disused Appleby-Warcop line, formerly part of the PenrithBarnard Castle `Stainmore Route', between Appleby and Southfields.
The Eden Valley Railway Trust owns the remaining section from Southfields to its base at Warcop, another 2½ miles.
RPL director David Pemberton said of the Warcop and Honeybourne trackbeds: “These are the only two sections of any significance where we believe there is an alternative use.”
However, as detailed in issue 284, any transfer of ownership of the trackbeds requires the approval of the Department for Transport – but the DfT has vetoed their transfer to the G/WR and EVR because it considers that heritage railways cannot provide a sufficient covenant to maintain the road bridges.
Appleby ambitions
The other option is for the trackbeds to be transferred to a local authority and leased back to the heritage lines, hence RPL's offer to Cumbria County Council.
A spokesperson for the council confirmed that it is aware of the offer and will be discussing it at a meeting in November, but was unable to comment further at this stage.
If taken up, it could open the door for the EVR to achieve its aim of extending its services to Appleby – more than a quarter of a century after it first set out to preserve the line.
Passenger services over the Stainmore Route ceased on January 22, 1962, with the section from Appleby to Kirkby Stephen East remaining in use to serve the nearby Hartley Quarry until 1974. Ministry of Defence traffic continued to Warcop until 1989, followed by a few special trains in 1990, after which the line became disused – yet it has never formally been closed. The EVR Society (now the EVR Trust) was formed in 1995 and ran its first trains at Warcop in 2003.
Bob Sandlands, a trustee of the EVR Trust, said that the railway obtained a Transport & Works Act Order in 2000 covering the entire line from Warcop to the boundary with Network Rail at Appleby East level crossing – where the rails remain in place but have been covered with tarmac. However, because RPL owned part of the line, the EVR was unable to also obtain an operating licence.
The track also remains in place through Appleby East station, having last been used in 2005 to bring in the EVR's two Southern Region 4-CEP electric multiple units, although the station is now in use as a scrapyard. However, said David: “We own enough land on the edge of Appleby to build a new station.” With concrete sleepers on most of the section owned by RPL, the line and its structures – including Coupland Beck Viaduct – are in good condition, said Bob.
“We've got an ongoing programme of sleeper replacement – we think we need about another 500.”
Tourism potential
The EVR's ultimate ambition is to link up with the Stainmore Railway at the restored Kirkby Stephen East station, creating a 12-mile heritage line. As reported in recent issues, Highways England (now National Highways) has infilled a bridge on this section with concrete but may be forced to undo this work following protests.
David concluded: “We're looking forward – Broadway to Honeybourne is a strategic corridor, and Appleby to Warcop has the potential to be a huge tourist attraction for Applebyin-Westmorland.”
RPL is also in the process of transferring a short section of the Alnwick branch trackbed in Northumberland to the Aln Valley Railway, which will eventually give the preserved line access to a main line interchange at Alnmouth station. All the transfers of ownership would be for a nominal £1 sum.