£500million in pipeline to reverse Beeching cuts

TRANSPORT Secretary Grant Shapps has confirmed a £500million pot of money is available to fund the reopening of lines, including some of those closed during the Beeching era.

Around 5,000 miles of track were shut down during this period, with the loss of about 2,300 stations, as part of the reshaping of BR.

Mr Shapps made the announcement during a visit to the Fleetwood to Poultonle-Fylde line, which closed in 1970, and to which £100,000 has been pledged for developing reopening proposals.

A further £1.5m will be given to the project to reopen the Ashington to Blyth line in Northumberland

Mr Shapps added: “Many communities still live with the scars from the closure of their local railway more than five decades ago.

“Work begins to undo the damage of the Beeching cuts by restoring local railways and stations to their former glory.

“Investing in transport links is essential to levelling up access to opportunities across the country, ensuring our regions are better connected and local economies flourish.”

The Government recognises not all growing towns can reopen previously existing stations, plus some areas may never have been served by rail, so is also announcing an allocation of £20m for a fresh round of the New Stations funding.

Two previous rounds of the scheme have already helped develop 10 brand new stations across England and Wales.

With costs of between £15m-25m per mile to reopen closed lines, the scheme’s critics have called the £500m ‘a drop in the ocean’ and called for more investment.