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.

Is there a line you’d like added to this list? Tell us about it.

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

Woodhead Tunnel used to form part of a major rail link between Manchester and Sheffield. The link was closed to regular services in the 1970s. National Grid is proposing to put cabling in the tunnel, meaning that this important rail link could not be reopened. We're campaigning to safeguard the tunnel for future rail use, and so are many MPs and local people. Ask your MP to support the call for the tunnel to be safeguarded.

South East

• Aylesbury & Bicester – Bletchley
• Haywards Heath – Horsted Keynes
• Shanklin – Ventnor
• Uckfield – Lewes
• 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
• Guildford – Horsham via Cranleigh
• Princes Risborough - Oxford
• Aylesbury - Rugby
• Finsbury Park - Alexandra Palace

South West

• Okehampton – Tavistock – Bere Alston
• Portishead – Bristol (find out more on the Portishead Railway Group website)
  Stratford – Cheltenham (South West, West Midlands)
• Bristol – Oxford
• Axminster - Lyme Regis
• Exmouth - Budleigh Salterton - Sidmouth
• Yeovil - Taunton
• Chard Junction - Chard Town - Taunton
• Exeter - Bude  

East of England

• Braintree – Stansted
• Hitchin – Bedford
• Spalding – March
• Watford-Croxley Green
• Cambridge - Bedford

East Midlands

• Bedford – Northampton
• Kettering – Corby
• Leicester – Coalville – Burton
• Leicester-Aylesbury (East Midlands, South East)
• Matlock – Buxton (East Midlands, North West)
• Darnall - Sheffield Victoria and Stocksbridge
• Mansfield - Southwell - Rolleston Junction - Newark

West Midlands

• Hampton in Arden – Whitacre Junction
  Kenilworth – Berkswell
• Longbridge – Frankley
• Leek – Stoke
• Rugby – Southam
• Walsall – Lichfield
• Redditch – Evesham

Yorkshire & the Humber

• Harrogate – Ripon – Northallerton
• Oakenshaw South Junction – Goose Hill Junction
• Malton – Pickering
• 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
• Middlesborough - Guisborough
• York - Pocklington - Market Weighton - Beverley - Hull
• Leeds - Otley, via Ilkley Line
• Spen Valley line from Low Moor to Thornhill
• Hull - Hornsea
• Hull - Withrnsea
• Hull - Little Weighton - North Cave
• Harrogate - Ripon - Northallerton
• Skipton - Grassington
• Skipton-Embsay-Bolton Abbey-Addingham

North East

• Alnmouth – Alnwick
• Ferryhill – Pelaw (Leamside Branch)
• Ashington Blyth and Tyne (subject of an online Downing Street petition)

North West

• Manchester – Sheffield (find out more from Save the Woodhead Tunnel)
• 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) (find out more from a local website, Skipton East Lancs Railway Action Partnership)
• Penarth to Barry direct route (parallel to Vale of Glamorgan route)
• Burscough - Burscough Curves

Wales

• Amlwch branch
• Bangor – Caernarfon
• Blaenau Ffestiniog – Trawsfynydd
• Coryton to Radyr or Taffs Well
• Aberystwyth - Carmarthen
• Caernarfon - Bangor
• Beddau - Pontyclun

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 transport campaigning groups in your area.