Communities across the UK will benefit from better rail connections thanks to a £500 million fund to kickstart the restoration of lines closed more than 50 years ago.
Speaking on a visit to the Fleetwood and Poulton-le-Fylde line, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps launched the new investment that will drive the reversal of the Beeching cuts.
The Fleetwood line was closed in 1970.
The cuts, introduced by the Ex-British Rail Chief, closed a third of the UK's rail network in 1963. The cuts introduced closing more than 2,300 stations and up to 5,000 miles of track across the UK.
To launch the reversal scheme, the Government is also giving funding towards the reopening of the Ashington-Blyth-Tyne Line (£1.5 million) in Northumberland, and £100,000 to the Fleetwood line in Lancashire.
However, the Government knows that growing towns can simply not just re-open old stations, and some areas have never been served by rail. As a result, the government has also announced a new round of the New Stations Fund.
The Transport Secretary has MPs, and communities across England to come forward with proposals on how they could use the funding.
The thousands of miles of railway that were axed under the Beeching cuts are in various states of use. Some still have freight trains running on them, some sit unused whilst others have been built over or converted to cycle routes or pathways.
The benefits of reopening lines closed by Beeching have already been seen. In 2015, the Todmorden Curve was reopening which was supported by £8.8m in government funding and enabled direct trains from Accrington and Burnley to Manchester.
What did the officials say?
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said:
“Many communities still live with the scars that came from the closure of their local railway more than five decades ago. Today sees work begin 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, local economies flourish and more than half a century of isolation is undone.”
Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris said:
“This is an exciting moment as we look to revitalise our railways, reconnect communities and reinvigorate our country.
“Local MPs, councillors and community leaders are the greatest champions of their local lines, and we want to work closely together to ensure the projects with the greatest potential have the support they need.
“There will also be opportunities for towns who have lost stations to receive a boost, as we launch another round of our New Stations Fund.”
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