If you could bring back 5 pre-Beeching lines.

[Gord]

Was stuck in a traffic jam in Netherton (one of the many areas that make up the Sandwell district of the West Midlands) the other evening and was having my usual thoughts about public transport.

If you could bring back 5 lines that were scrapped in the 50's/60's/70's...which would they be and why? You could give purely local selfish reasons or think in the national interest. I know this is an international forum and would love to learn about any cuts that have occured in other countries and your toughts on them. I know the USA have been through more severe railway cutting than us!

Anyway, my 5 would be:

1. The Great Central: Would be interesting to see how this would operate in the current climate and which franchise it would be a part of. From a selfish point of view, using the train to visit relatives at Woodford Halse would have been useful!

2. Lowestoft-Yarmouth: Throughout the 80's and 90's, i seemed to spend most of my life on the 600/1/2/3/4/5 Eastern Counties buses between Lowestoft and Yarmouth and they can get very busy. I assume they're still busy to this day. I think the people of the east coast would settle for a shuttle between the 2 towns today...i certainly would've back then. (Although the 600 express wasn't too slow)

3. Sunderland-Durham: I lived in Sunderland for 3 years and was constantly travelling back to East Anglia to visit family. This line looks like it would have provided a nice shortcut for me. Grand Central Trains wasn't around then and maybe that would do the job today.

4. Wolverhampton-Stourbridge: Like the one above, it would provide a nice cut to the West Coast Mainline for me. I don't think this one would be a selfish choice though as the line passed through some populated areas...including Dudley. Although a trhough route to Birmingham would probably be prefered to Wolverhampton. Maybe a connection at Dudley Port would do rather than looping around to Wolverhampton.

5. Extension of the SVR to Ironbridge: Just for fun! Why not?

[61653]

First WOULD be the Clayton West branch, but as that closed in 1983 along with the pit, i can't include it, so...
1. The Holmfirth branch
2. The Leeds 'New Line' from Huddersfield via Cleckheaton & Heckmondwike
3. Carmarthen-Aberystwyth
4. Church Fenton-Tadcaster/Wetherby-Harrogate
5. Northallerton-Ripon-Harrogate

[John]

1. The Varsity Line (Cambridge to Oxford), as it provides a great London bypass
2. The Midland Railway Mangotsfield and Bath Branch Line as this would then provide a great suburban route through all of Bristols Eastern Suburbs, greatly reducing traffic problems in Bath and Bristol. This would be better on a separate line to the Bristol - London route as a) it wouldn't interfere with Freight or Express trains, b)allow 3-4 tph in each direction without problems and c)pass through places people actually live...
3. 4. and 5. Don't know about the rest, but probably similar ones to the above....

[welshdragon]

1) Harrogate - Ripon - Northallerton as it could then be electrified and be an alternative ECML.
2) Starbeck - Wetherby - Leeds as Wetherby is an important West Yorkshire Town
3) Bangor - Caernarfon - Afonwen as it would provide an important link in North Wales
4) Woodhead Line as... i dunno, just seemed stupid to close it
5) Beverley - York as it would provide a direct route for commuters from Beverley.

[61653]

First WOULD be the Clayton West branch, but as that closed in 1983 along with the pit, i can't include it, so...
1. The Holmfirth branch
2. The Leeds 'New Line' from Huddersfield via Cleckheaton & Heckmondwike
3. Carmarthen-Aberystwyth
4. Church Fenton-Tadcaster/Wetherby-Harrogate
5. Northallerton-Ripon-Harrogate

I'm going to revise my suggestions (and give reasons this time): The 1st 2 can stay as they'd solve the traffic problems into Huddersfield, 3 would just be cool and would allow Cardiff-Aberystwyth services, and entirely within Wales...

4. The 'Cross-Country' GWR route from Taunton to Barnstaple, to cut road traffic across Exmoor, and linking into...
5. The SR route from Okehampton-Tavistock-Plymouth, to allow a diversionary route to the Dawlish Sea Wall.

Harrogate can cope cos it's full of Mutton-chopped old colonel types who all have Jaguars and never travel anywhere anyway so their pacers to Leeds are good enough. Ripon folks don't so much have a gene-pool as a puddle, so they can manage as they are too...

[Chrill]

I can only think of one line I'd like reinstated, but coming to think of it, it would serve no purpose really.

The Roslagsbanan narrow gauge trains used to run all the way from Stockholm to Norrtälje (country side house of mine is there) in the 1970s/1980s but has since long been removed from there. Today, they run a bus service every five minutes during rush hours due to high demand, and there are plans to extend the commuter rail to Norrtälje.

[noofnoof]

In Australia.

1. The Texas railway line, so I can take the train from my house to Texas
2. Brisbane Valley line. no reason, excpept I go to Toogoolawah once a year.

[andysine]

Ok,

1)
The South Staffordshire Line between Lichfield City, Walsall, Dudley and Round Oak. Most of the trackbed remains as far as Walsall and almost the entire line could be reinstated without too much trouble. Why do I think it should be reopened? Well, mainly just so there is a greater variety of traffic through Lichfield City, near my house!

2)
The Meon Valley railway between Fareham and Alton. It was one of the last railways to be built in the UK to mainline standards, and depsite opening in 1903, it closed with the Beeching Axe. I recently cycled a small part of this line when I undertook the South Downs Way this summer.

3)

Woodhead Line as... i dunno, just seemed stupid to close it.

Agreed. Been reading up on this one, and it does sound rather silly!

[61653]

If you could bring back 5 lines that were scrapped in the 50's/60's/70's...

...Which is the only reason i didn't include Woodhead in my list. However, pop along to http://savethewoodheadtunnel.blogspot.com/ and feel free to lend your support... National Grid are still planning on laying cables through the New Woodhead Tunnel, thus preventing any possible reopening. They suggested the railway could re-open using the original single-bore tunnels they consider are too old and in too poor condition for their power lines. Ruth Kelly, then Transport Secretary, seemed to buy this. Bloody stupid if you ask me...

EDIT: of course, Beeching did cut passenger trains through Woodhead, so it is valid.

[Badger]

I love the Woodhead, seems madness that it was closed considering the other 2 transpennine routes are nearing capacity. Spectacular scenary in places too.

[Dave]

Ok,

1)
The South Staffordshire Line between Lichfield City, Walsall, Dudley and Round Oak. Most of the trackbed remains as far as Walsall and almost the entire line could be reinstated without too much trouble. Why do I think it should be reopened? Well, mainly just so there is a greater variety of traffic through Lichfield City, near my house!

The South Staffs couldn't reopen between Lichfield and Walsall as the trackbed has been built on.

Stourbridge-Walsall would require extensive rebuilding/clearance. The trackbed was built over in one section when the Dudley Southern by-pass was opened in .. 1996? .. but as the line was mothballed this was taken into account. The Dudley Tunnel would also require some serious work, I understand, as inspections in recent years haven't gone well. Dudley Viaduct might be considered as unsafe - the structure is actually the original wooden one built in the 1800s, which was encased by brick!

Although I'm being realistic, as opposed to dreamy

[andysine]

Spoilsport!

Fair enough. A man can dream though. A man can dream.

[Gord]

Not pre-Beeching at all but i only found out today that Merry Hill shopping centre used to have a monorail system. The plan was to extend it to where Round Oak station used to be on the South Staffordshire line in readiness to link it to the proposed 2nd line of the Midland Metro.

I've been living in Stourbridge for one and a half years now and i'm still finding things out about the history of this place...love it!

Been looking up pictures of the monorail...and this lead me to finding pictures of the old Round Oak steel works...amazing yet quite sad photos really.

[andysine]

I remember riding on the Merry Hill Monorail when I was younger. It was the coolest thing ever then!

Slightly OT, is the Birmingham Internation Maglev still going? I remember they were going to close it as they couldn't find the parts or something....

(Wow, don't I sound old right now!?)

[61653]

I remember riding on the Merry Hill Monorail when I was younger. It was the coolest thing ever then!

Slightly OT, is the Birmingham Internation Maglev still going? I remember they were going to close it as they couldn't find the parts or something....

(Wow, don't I sound old right now!?)

as far as i know they closed it and replaced it with something equally non-standard, not sure what tho... I'm sure there's some WM-based users can fill us in...

[Ameecher]

A rubber tyred glass bubble running on the same alignment as before.

[Ploes]

A rubber tyred glass bubble running on the same alignment as before.

The replacement is also cable pulled.

Not pre-Beeching at all but i only found out today that Merry Hill shopping centre used to have a monorail system. The plan was to extend it to where Round Oak station used to be on the South Staffordshire line in readiness to link it to the proposed 2nd line of the Midland Metro.

What?!
I'd never heard of that! Wikipedia says It was sold to the Auzis! but more intersting is that:

The infrastructure was later removed, leaving only one disused monorail station and part of the old railings visible—on top of the Marks and Spencer store roof.

Anyone got any pictures of this? Or better still, when it was in operation in the 1990's?

EDIT: To avoid taking this Off Topic I've made a new thread about this > here <

[teccuk]

1. My silly romantic indulgence is the Strawberry Line between Yatton and Cheddar
2. Long distance line is Oxford - Cambridge route
3 - 5 would be urban lines, which at the time must of looked silly, but becuase of population increases and town growth could now be useful as rapid transit. There's a few in the Birmingham area. Locally Portished; Bristol to Bath via Mangotsfield and the line to Whitchurch. Would help Bristol out a little.