Better Transport

Reopening rail lines across the country would go a long way to improving public transport and tackling rail overcrowding.

Below are some lines people are campaigning to have reopened - or at least protected from development so that they can later be reopened. We've also compiled a priority list.  Our work to protect and reopen rail lines and improve train travel relies on donations; please consider supporting us.

We want your help: If you have a photograph of a closed line or want to suggest a line be added to this list, please email us: campaigns@bettertransport.org.uk

South East
South West
East of England
East Midlands
West Midlands
Yorkshire & the Humber
North East
North West
Wales

South East

• Aylesbury & Bicester - Bletchley
• Haywards Heath - Horsted Keynes
• Shanklin - Ventnor
• Uckfield - Lewes (The Wealden Line Campaign is campaigning on behalf of this line)
• The Tunbridge Wells link via Tunbridge Wells West to Eridge, connecting to the Uckfield - Lewes line. This would reconnect the cross-country line from Kent to East Sussex (The Wealden Line Campaign is campaigning on behalf of this line)
• The 'Cuckoo Line', Polegate to Tunbridge Wells
• Guildford - Horsham via Cranleigh (Local groups are campaigning to get this line reopened)
• Princes Risborough - Oxford
• Oxford - Fairford  via Withey
• Aylesbury - Rugby
• Finsbury Park - Alexandra Palace (Muswell Hill Metro Group is campaigning on behalf of this line)
• Didcot - Newbury - Southampton
• Bourne End - High Wycombe (The High Wycombe Society is campaigning for a light rail scheme) 
• Maldon - South Woodham Ferrers or Hatfield Peverel
• Shenfield East curve. This would enable trains to run directly from Southend to the County town of Chelmsford
• Hythe and Fawley: Totton – Hythe – Fawley
• Westerham to Dunton Green

 
South West

• Okehampton - Tavistock - Bere Alston
• Portishead - Bristol (The Portishead Railway Group is campaigning on behalf of this line)
• Stratford - Cheltenham (South West, West Midlands)
• Bristol - Oxford
• Axminster - Lyme Regis
• Exmouth - Budleigh Salterton - Sidmouth
• Yeovil - Taunton
• Chard Junction - Chard Town - Taunton
• Exeter - Bude
• A railway line linking Yeovil Junction station to the Westbury-Weymouth line
• Newton Abbot - Moretonhampstead
• Frome - Radstock
• Somerset and Dorset Railway, from Bath to Bournemouth (a line a local group is actively campaigning for)
• Banbury - Cheltenham
• Barnstaple - Ilfracombe
• Barnstaple - Bideford - Great Torrington
• Wellington - Norton Fitzwarren - Taunton - Creech St Michael - Bridgwater (light rail)
• Barnstaple - Taunton

East of England

• Braintree - Stansted
• Hitchin - Bedford
• Spalding - March
• Watford - Croxley Green
• Cambridge - Bedford
• Cambridge - St Neots - Huntingdon
• Six Mile Bottom on the Ipswich - Cambridge line
• Norwich - Fakenham - Little Walsingham -Wells Next The Sea
• Saxmundham - Leiston
• Dunstable - Luton
• Beccles - Haddiscoe
• The Nicky Line, Hemel Hempstead - Redbourne - Harpenden
• The Alban Way, St. Albans - Hatfield
• Watford - Rickmansworth (the Ebury Way)
• Sudbury - Haverhill - Cambridge
• Kings Lynn-Hunstanton 
• Aylsham - Coltishall
• Chingford - Stratford

 
East Midlands

• Bedford - Northampton
• Kettering - St Ives
• Leicester - Coalville - Burton
• Leicester - Aylesbury (East Midlands, South East)
• Matlock - Buxton (East Midlands, North West) Local campaigners have set up a Facebook group in support of this reopening.
• Darnall - Sheffield Victoria and Stocksbridge
• Mansfield - Southwell - Rolleston Junction - Newark
• Northampton - Market Harborough, via Brampton, Brixworth, Lamport and Kelmarsh
• East Lincolnshire Line, Grimsby - Louth - Alford - Boston
• Mablethorpe loop line, Louth - Grimoldby - Mablethorpe - Sutton-on-Sea - Mumby Road - Willoughby
• Retford - Bawtry - Doncaster

 West Midlands

• Hampton in Arden - Whitacre Junction
• Kenilworth - Berkswell
• Longbridge - Frankley
• Leek - Stoke
• Rugby - Southam
• Walsall - Lichfield
• Redditch - Evesham
• Hereford - Brecon via Hay on Wye 
• Shrewsbury - Bridgnorth (linked with the Severn Valley railway line)
• Stourbridge-Dudley-Walsall (Proponents have put a petition on the Number 10 website about this line)
• Oakamoor-Alton Towers

Yorkshire & the Humber

• Harrogate - Ripon - Northallerton
• Oakenshaw South Junction - Goose Hill Junction
• Malton - Pickering (There was a petition on the No. 10 website calling for this reopening which is now closed, but gained 638 signatures and awaits a Government response)
• Swinton/Mexborough - Cudworth
• Silkstone - Wath - Mexborough
• Hadfield - Penistone - Deepcar (Woodhead route) (Yorkshire and the Humber, North West)
• Redmire - Garsdale (Yorkshire and the Humber, North West)
• Leeds - Wetherby
• Darlington - Richmond
• York - Pocklington - Market Weighton - Beverley - Hull (a line actively being promoted by the Minsters Rail Campaign)
• Leeds - Otley, via Ilkley Line
• Spen Valley line from Low Moor to Thornhill
• Hull - Hornsea
• Hull - Withernsea
• Hull - Little Weighton - North Cave
• Harrogate - Ripon - Northallerton
• Skipton - Grassington
• Skipton - Embsay - Bolton Abbey - Addingham
• A cross-city rail link for Bradford between Interchange and Forster Square stations
• Addingham - Ilkley
• Clitheroe - Hellifield (currently open to passengers only on Sundays in the summer)

North East

• Alnmouth - Alnwick
• Ferryhill - Pelaw (Leamside Branch)
• Ashington Blyth and Tyne (South East Northumberland Rail User Group is campaigning on behalf of this line)
• Bishop Auckland - Howden le Wear - Crook
• Stanley - Beamish- Pelton - ECML (Chester Le Street) - Leamside
• Middlesborough - Guisborough
• Stockton - Ferryhill

North West

• Manchester - Sheffield (Save the Woodhead Tunnel is campaigning on behalf of this line)
• Matlock - Buxton (East Midlands, North West) Local campaigners have set up a Facebook group in support of this reopening.
• Manchester - Mayfield Station Lines
• Penrith - Keswick (find out more from a local website)
• Carlisle - Galashiels (Waverley Route)
• Partington - Glazebrook
• Skipton - Colne (North West, Yorkshire and the Humber) (The Skipton and East Lancashire Railway Action Partnership is campaigning on behalf of this line. They have a No 10 Petition to re-open this line with over 1000 signatures.)
• Burscough - Burscough Curves
• Preston - Southport line
• Deeside ind park - Sealand - Saughall - Blacon - Chester Liverpool Rd - Newton - Northwich
• The Todmorden Curve, requires just 400 yards of track and would allow fast direct trains from Manchester to Burnley and Colne.
• Wigan - Coppull - Euxton (visit the Re-open Coppull Train Station FaceBook page)
• Sandbach - Northwich, including a new Middlewich station (This line is currently open for freight traffic and passenger diversions only). The Middlewich Rail Link Campaign are campaigning for the reintroduction of a passenger train service on the line. A feasibility study recently showed that re-opening the line to passengers is potentially viable. Local councillor Neil Ritchie has said "a new direct rail service between Northwich and Crewe via Middlewich would be of great benefit to our residents".
• North Mersey Branch Line, Anfield - Bootle - Aintree
• Waterloo Tunnel, Warterloo Dock - Edge Hill Junction
• Wapping Tunnel, King's Dock - Edge Hill Junction
• Canada Dock Branch Line, Bootle Canada Dock - Edge Lane

Wales

• Amlwch branch
• Bangor - Caernarfon
• Blaenau Ffestiniog - Trawsfynydd
• Coryton to Radyr or Taffs Well
• Aberystwyth - Carmarthen
• Caernarfon - Bangor
• Beddau - Pontyclun
• Hirwaun (or Aberdare) - Glyn Neath
• Criccieth - Caernarvon (or Bangor)
• Merthyr (or Dowlais) - Brecon, Builth and Machynlleth
• Pontrilais - Hay on Wye
• Barmouth to Ruabon
• Penarth to Barry direct route (parallel to Vale of Glamorgan route)
• Hereford - Brecon via Hay on Wye  
• Porth - Maerdy
• Neath - Glynneath -- with Glynneath then linking up with Hirwaun and Aberdare if the line to Hirwaun is reopened
• Brynmawr-Abergavenny

Campaign for a reopening

If you think a rail line or station near you should be reopened, our campaigning guide will help you. You could also work with campaigning groups in your area.