Reopen rail lines and stations

• Aylesbury & Bicester – Bletchley [Note: In December 2011 the Government agreed to support the reopening of the rail link between Oxford, Bicester, Aylesbury, Milton Keynes and Bedford]
• 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
• The ‘Cuckoo Line’, Polegate to Tunbridge Wells
• Guildford – Horsham via Cranleigh
• Horsham – Shoreham-by-Sea

• Oxford – Fairford via Witney
• Aylesbury – Rugby
• Didcot – Newbury – Southampton
• Bourne End – High Wycombe
• 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

• Westerham to Dunton Green
• Chessington South – Epsom / Leatherhead
• East Grinstead – Three Bridges
• Hall Farm Curve
• The Windsor Link Railway; phase 1 would connect Slough to Waterloo via Windsor
• The Hundred of Hoo Railway: Gravesend to Thamesport
• Banbury – Verney Junction
• Old Oak Common – Hounslow (Dudding Hill Line)
• Paddock Wood – Cranbrook via Horsemonden and Goudhurst (extending possibly into Cranbrook Town and on to Tenterden via Benenden and Rolvenden as per the original plans for the line)
• London’s Marylebone Station – Leicester (the Great Central London Extension – this could link to the West Coast mainline.)
• Fareham – Gosport
• Winchester – Alton
• Whitchurch – Sutton Scotney
• Polegate – Pevensey (Willingdon Chord)
• Crystal Palace (High Level) line
• Old Oak Common – Hounslow (London)
• Brockenhurst – Ringwood (and beyond)
• Camberley – Woking (via the Sturt Road chord)
• Alton – Fareham (the Meon Valley Railway)
• Cheltenham – Swindon – Andover
• Lydd – Appledore / Ashford
• BML2
• Wolverton – Newport Pagnell
• Chichester – Midhurst
• Headcorn – Tenterden (linking the London-Ashford mainline with the KESR railway at Tenterden through to Bodiam via Rolvenden)
• Thaxted – Elsenham
• People have also suggested the following stations for reopening: Wantage & Grove Parkway Station

• Stratford – Cheltenham (South West, West Midlands)
• 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 [Note: in December 2015 trains began running between Yeovil Junction and Pen Mill stations for the first time in 50 years!]
• Newton Abbot – Moretonhampstead
• Exeter – Newton Abbot (Teign Valley Line)
• Frome – Radstock
• Somerset and Dorset Railway, from Bath to Bournemouth

• Banbury – Cheltenham
• Barnstaple – Ilfracombe
• Barnstaple – Bideford – Great Torrington
• Taunton metro proposal
• Barnstaple – Taunton
• Bodmin – Bodmin Parkway
• Tiverton – Tiverton Parkway
• Brixham – Churston – Paignton
• Swindon – Marlborough, linking with the Berks and Hants line
• Weymouth Quay tramway
• The Strawberry Line: Clevedon to Cranmore
• Halwill – Padstow (North Cornwall Railway)
• Brent – Kingsbridge (Kingsbridge branch line)
• Hamworthy branch line
• Bridport – Maiden Newton
• Gwinear Road – Helston
• Newquay – Chacewater
• Yelverton – Princetown
• Barnstaple – Braunton
• Cirencester – Kemble
• Salisbury – Verwood – Bournemouth
• Portishead – Clevedon
• Cheltenham – Swindon – Andover
• Swindon – Highworth
• Calne – Chippenham
• Plymouth – Yealmpton
• People have also suggested the following stations for reopening: Plympton, Stonehouse, Bristol Road; Charfield; Berkeley; Broadclyst; Codford; Corsham; Wootton Bassett Junction; Langport; Sparkford; Boscombe in Bournemouth; Poole Port; Wells; Glastonbury; Shepton Mallet. Also the following stations between Didcot and Swindon, which could be connected by a single-track local line: Steventon, Wantage Road, Uffington and Shrivenham.

• Northampton – Bedford
• Hitchin – Bedford
• Spalding – March
• Norwich – Wymondham – Fakenham – Little Walsingham – Wells Next The Sea
• Saxmundham – Leiston

• Dunstable – Luton
• Beccles – Haddiscoe (with possible extension to join the Wherry Line to Great Yarmouth, reopening the direct link between Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth)
• The Nicky Line, Hemel Hempstead – Redbourne – Harpenden
• The Alban Way, St. Albans – Hatfield
• Watford – Rickmansworth (the Ebury Way)
• Kings Lynn – Hunstanton
• Aylsham – Coltishall
• Watford – Croxley Green
• Sheringham – Holt – Fakenham
• Wivenhoe – Brightlingsea
• Newmarket – Ely
• Stratford-upon-Avon – Bedford (The Stratford Upon Avon & Midland Junction Railway)
• Cambridge – St Neots – Huntingdon
• Chappel & Wakes Colne – Halstead
• Witham – Maldon
• Rugby – Peterborough via Market Harborough

• Soham-Cambridge (The Snailwell Loop)
• Peterborough – Northampton
• Buntingford – St Margarets
• The North Weald and Ongar link at the end of the Central Line
• Dunstable North railway station. Dunstable – Leighton Buzzard line
• King’s Lynn – Dereham

• Cromer – Mundesley-on-Sea – North Walsham
• Halesworth – Southwold
• Kings Lynn – Fakenham
• Black Bank Station – Cambridgeshire
• Bishop’s Stortford – Braintree
• People have also suggested the following stations for reopening: Six Mile Bottom; Finningham; Bealings.

• Northampton – Bedford
• Northampton – Market Harborough, via Brampton, Brixworth, Lamport and Kelmarsh
• East Lincolnshire Line, Grimsby – Louth – Alford – Boston
• The Lincolnshire Loop Line: Boston – Tattershall – Kirkstead – Stixwould – Southrey – Bardney – Five Mile House – Washingborough – Lincoln (The former Tattershall railway station is pictured, right)
• Mablethorpe loop line, Louth – Grimoldby – Mablethorpe – Sutton-on-Sea – Mumby Road – Willoughby
• Wellingborough – Higham Ferrers
• The Kirkstead and Little Steeping Railway
• Stratford-upon-Avon – Bedford (The Stratford Upon Avon & Midland Junction Railway)
• London’s Marylebone Station – Leicester (the Great Central London Extension – this could link to the West Coast mainline.)

• Rugby – Peterborough via Market Harborough
• Peterborough – Northampton
• Bourne – Sleaford (- Cranwell)

• Ullesthorpe – Rugby
• Lutterworth – Rugby
• Butterley – Ripley – Derby
• The Castle Donington line
• Barrow Hill – Bolsover (the Doe Lea branch line)
• Wirksworth – Duffield
• Corby – Peterborough (the Luffenham Chord)

• People have also suggested the following stations for reopening: Bawtry; Little Bytham; Wingfield; Rushton; Barton and Walton

• Kenilworth – Berkswell
• Longbridge – Frankley
• Rugby – Southam
• Redditch – Evesham – Ashchurch
• Gloucester – Ross-on-Wye – Hereford

• Hereford – Brecon via Hay on Wye
• Shrewsbury – Bridgnorth (linked with the Severn Valley railway line)
• Wellington – Stoke-on-Trent via Market Drayton
• Stourbridge – Dudley – Walsall
• Oakamoor – Alton Towers
• Frankley – Rubery – Hunnington – Halesowen – Old Hill – Windmill End – Dudley
• Stratford-upon-Avon – Bedford (The Stratford Upon Avon & Midland Junction Railway)
• London’s Marylebone Station – Leicester (the Great Central London Extension – this could link to the West Coast mainline.)
• Stratford – Cheltenham (South West, West Midlands)

• Stratford-upon-Avon – Long Marston (then connecting to Honeybourne on the Worcester-London line)
• Stafford – Uttoxeter
• Rugby – Peterborough via Market Harborough

• Welshpool – Oswestry
• Shrewsbury – Stafford
• Worcester – Bromyard – the Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway line
• Oswestry – Whitchurch
• Shrewsbury – Ironbridge via Ketley
• Nantwich – Market Drayton
• Cheadle – Cresswell
• Burton upon Trent – Lichfield
• Halesowen line
• People have also suggested the following stations for reopening: Soho Road, Birmingham; Madeley; Admaston; Woofferton; Barton and Walton

• Harrogate – Leeds (via Wetherby)
• 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)
• Darlington – Richmond
• York – Hull via Beverley
• Leeds – Otley – Ilkley
• Hull – Hornsea
• Hull – Withernsea
• Hull – Little Weighton – North Cave
• Skipton – Grassington
• Addingham – Ilkley

• Selby – Driffield
• Saltburn – Loftus (currently only a freight line)
• Brancliffe – Kirk Sandall (South Yorkshire Joint Line, currently only used for freight)
• Keighley – Queensbury via Thornton
• Brockholes – Holmfirth
• Anchor Pit Junction – Pickle Bridge junction (linking Huddersfield and Bradford)
• Starbeck – Pannal
• Bradford Crossrail
• Armley Canal Road station – Leeds/Shipley line
• Kirkburton Station – Huddersfield to Heaton Lodge line
• Mirfield – Low Moor via Cleckheaton
• People have also suggested the following stations for reopening: Hambleton; Altofts; Methley; Esholt; Askern

• Hexham – Bellingham (Border Counties Line)
• Haltwhistle – Alston (Alston Line)
• Alnmouth – Alnwick (the Aln Valley Railway is currently relaying track along this line to reopen it as a volunteer-run heritage railway)

• Bishop Auckland – Howden le Wear – Crook
• Hexham – Allendale
• Washington, Tyne and Wear – Consett
• Durham – Bishop Auckland
• Middlesbrough – Guisborough
• People have also suggested the following stations for reopening: Horden; Belford; and Gilsland.

• Bolton to Bury
• The short chord at Carnforth (allowing direct running between the Furness Line and the Dales Line)
• Plumpton/Leven Junction at Haverthwaite (the missing section of the former Ulverston to Lakeside branch line)
• Halton Curve (this line will soon reopen! Work began in July 2017)
• Rawtenstall – Manchester Victoria
• Southport and Cheshire Lines Extension Railway (a reader suggests re-laying the track bed from Old Roan to Woodvale, and building an extension access line to Ainsdale to link it with the Northern line of Merseyrail)
• Manchester – Sheffield
• Matlock – Buxton
• Penrith – Keswick
• Carlisle – Galashiels (Waverley Route)
• Partington – Glazebrook

• Burscough – Burscough Curves
• Deeside ind park – Sealand – Saughall – Blacon – Chester Liverpool Rd – Newton – Northwich
• Wigan – Coppull – Euxton
• Sandbach – Northwich, including a new Middlewich station (This line is currently open for freight traffic and passenger diversions only).
• North Mersey Branch Line
• Waterloo Tunnel, Waterloo Dock – Edge Hill Junction
• Wapping Tunnel, King’s Dock – Edge Hill Junction
• Canada Dock Branch Line, Bootle Canada Dock – Edge Lane
• St Helens Central – St Helens Junction
• The Wigan Junction rail line from Lower Ince to Glazebrook, with a new station at Wigan (Wigan Central) combining North-western and Wallgate
• The North Liverpool Extension Line

• Marple – Bredbury – Stockport
• Warrington and Stockport Railway
• Marylebone – Manchester Piccadilly
• Rochdale – Bacup
• Bacup – Rawtenstall (plus Stubbins station)

• Rose Hill (Marple) – Macclesfield
• People have also suggested the following stations for reopening: Sefton Park; Manchester Mayfield; Carr Mill; Beeston Castle and Tarporley; Blackpool Central; Liverpool St. James; Speke; Liverpool Exchange; Shap; Glazebury; Anfield; Partington (Manchester).

• Amlwch branch
• Blaenau Ffestiniog – Trawsfynydd

• Criccieth – Caernarvon (or Bangor)
• Merthyr (or Dowlais) – Brecon, Builth and Machynlleth
• Pontrilas – 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
• Chester – Mold (possibility of extending to Ruthin)
• Tidenham – Hereford (Wye Valley)
• Llangollen – Wrexham
• Denbigh – Caerws – Bangor on Dee

• Aberystwyth – Tregaron – Lampeter – Carmarthen
• Mumbles Tramway (Swansea Bay)
• Afon Wen – Caernarvon (and on to Bangor)
• Welshpool – Oswestry
• Golden Valley Line
• People have also suggested the following stations for reopening: Caerleon; Swansea Landore; Peterston-super-Ely; Machen; Rossett

Note: Scotland is covered by our sister organisation, Transform Scotland, but readers of our website have suggested that the following lines be reopened:

• Dumfries – Castle Douglas – Kirkcudbright – Stranraer
• Hamilton – Bothwell – Glasgow/Edinburgh
• The Waverley Line beyond Tweedbank to Hawick
• Dunblane – Callander
• Restoring passenger services to Grangemouth on the Glasgow – Falkirk Grahamston line
• Extend the East Coast Line northwards from Aberdeen, through Ellon and Peterhead, to  Fraserburgh.

Campaign for a reopening

If you think a rail line or station near you should be reopened, get in touch with us. You could also work with campaigning groups in your area.

Read our guide to getting a line or station reopened.