Fantasy thread: What would you do if money was no object...

[dave55uk]

I have this dream of winning a mega-fortune on the Euro lottery (as I suspect do many others), but if this happened to me, I would like to re-open a closed railway as a tourist/enthusiasts attraction.

So. What if...money was (virtually) no object. Which line would you re-open? And why?

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Skipton-Colne, just to annoy tbtc

Seriously though, I'd go for one that would actually be useful and serve a purpose, but is unlikely to happen as it's in the shadow of bigger schemes, something like Tavistock-Okehampton or Beverley-York.

 

[DXMachina]

Aylesbury to Leicester

 

[Eagle]

Whoa there. The Euromillions jackpot is capped at €190 million (£152m at current prices), and most of the time the jackpot you'd win is way less than that. For reference, Airdrie to Bathgate cost £300m, and most of the stuff you're suggesting is a bigger project than that.

Might want to scale your ambitions down a bit.

 

[dave55uk]

Eagle - good point - but remember the volunteers

 

[transmanche]

I have this dream of winning a mega-fortune on the Euro lottery (as I suspect do many others), but if this happened to me, I would like to re-open a closed railway as a tourist/enthusiasts attraction.

So. What if...money was (virtually) no object. Which line would you re-open? And why?

Gobowen-Oswestry (suitable for a PPM I reckon). Purely because that's where my Mum lives and it would make it easier for me to travel there.

 

[Johnuk123]

Somerset and Dorset would be nice.

 

[Pyromaniac]

Maldon - Witham

This way would be more useful than opening the Maldon - South Woodham Ferrers side, but add Maldon to the commuter belt (to either London or Colchester or anywhere in between).

 

[Tomonthetrain]

Maldon - Witham

This way would be more useful than opening the Maldon - South Woodham Ferrers side, but add Maldon to the commuter belt (to either London or Colchester or anywhere in between).

Id buy the existing Stourbridge junction to Stourbridge Town line

 

[Firesprite]

Rip up Cambridgeshire's misguided busway and replace it with a proper railway as it should have been done in the first place. The current cost of building the dammed busway is increasing every day (£205 million ), it was claimed that it would only cost £46 million to
build.

 

[Temple Meads]

Tiverton - Tiverton Junction/Parkway, just to make getting to the station easier :P

 

[HSTEd]

I would buy myself a personal train.... 200m long with jacuzzi and other facilities and then take friends on junkets to the Alps every winter, and to the Med every summer.

 

[causton]

How much would it cost to have a personal 2+2 HST - or similar, anything that can use basically any line in Britain - and then travel about in it?

 

[Temple Meads]

How much would it cost to have a personal 2+2 HST - or similar, anything that can use basically any line in Britain - and then travel about in it?

I would like that on my Tiverton - Tiverton Junction line!

Would be 43186 in jubilee livery working with 43198.

43024 would be in reserve.

 

[jopsuk]

Money no object? I'd bury the main commuter rail networks in this country, making them all GC+ loading gauge, standardised European platform height and 25kV in the process, whilst taking steps to weather-proof the intercity, inter regional and rural branch lines- with all lines going to to GC+ and OHL. The trackbeds of the buried commuter routes would become high quality, wide, pedestrian and cycle routes with superb connectivity to railway stations. The signalling and alignment of the InterCity routes would be upgraded where possible (everywhere, seeing as money is no object!) to allow 350km/h running- though HS1 would still go ahead. Commerical domestic flights not to islands would be banned, and Heathrow replaced with a new large airport north of London near the WCML (this was a 1970s proposal I think?).

All the London Underground, Glasgow Subway and T&W metro lines would be heavily altered to the same specification as the commuter networks.

Any bus route running a 15-minute or better service for even part of the day would be replaced by a tram line running in a cut-and-cover route

 

[Scouseinmanc]

Reopen the Liverpool Overhead Railway

 

[dave55uk]

Some interesting responses so far. However, the idea is for a preserved railway line, not a whole network So far, I like the S&D idea.

 

[The Ham]

I'd link the Watercress line to Winchester. Even as a stand alone entity, as long as it had a link to Winchester station (even just by bus) and a station at Kings Worthy (5 min from the M3) it would attract a lot more passengers than the Watercress line as it would be a lot easier to get to.

 

[twoag]

Severn Rail Bridge... as a tourist attraction...

 

[Malton Seadog]

Scarborough to Whitby without a shadow of a doubt.

It's such a shame, in a way, that the NYMR is so close. I genuinely believe that the coast line from Scarborough to Whitby would be more popular.

Both, being so close to each other, probably aren't viable.

The only realistic way that they could both operate is if one or both were on the main rail network.

 

[tbtc]

Skipton-Colne, just to annoy tbtc

If I had the money I'd buy a cheap day return from Rotherham to Brigg. But only if I won big.

http://www.railforums.co.uk/showpost.php?p=1219251&postcount=17

 

[D841 Roebuck]

Chathill to Seahouses, as one that would be useful to me personally.

 

[Waverley125]

having tried once already:

High Speed Lines

HS2 extended to Glasgow via Manchester Airport, Preston, Kendal & Carlisle, to Dundee via an 'Glasgow avoider' and to Belfast via a tunnel. Also a spur direct into Liverpool & Manchester city centres, as well as a Liverpool-Manc. Airport-Manchester line

Separate HSL to Nottingham, Sheffield, Leeds, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen, including Leeds-Manchester and Edinburgh-Glasgow lines

Spurs from Liverpool & Crewe (approx) to Dublin via a Holyhead-Dun Laoghaire tunnel

HS3 to run Euston-OOC-Heathrow-Reading-Bristol-Cardiff-Swansea-Fishguard-Rosslare-Dublin/Cork, and include a Bristol-Birmingham link

Irish HSL to run Cork-Dublin-Belfast

Assist with the French with the LGV Picardie & the Belgians with a Calais-Ghent-Antwerp HSL, speeding up London-Paris & London-Netherlands

Connect HS1 to HS2 via north London (NoL International trains to call at Stratford International), and connect HS3 to HS2 via a Stratford-OOC line

Reopenings

Yorkshire

Middlesbrough-Scarborough via Whitby West Cliff
Northallerton-Battersby
Northallerton-Cross Gates via Ripon, Harrogate & Wetherby
York-Hull via Beverley
Selby-Driffield
Church Fenton-Wetherby
Harrogate-Pateley Bridge
Pool in Wharfedale-Menston via Otley
Laisterdyke-Low Moor
Garforth-Castleford
Wakefield-Barnsley via Royston
Low Moor-Mirfield via Heckmondwike
Leeds-Mirfield via Birstall, Heckmondwike
Horbury West Curve
Methley Junction-Glasshoughton
Brockholes-Holmfirth
Sheffield-Manchester via Woodhead
Beeston Junction-Morley Top
Deepcar-Stocksbridge
Clowne-Staveley
Staveley-Bolsover
Chesterfield-Sheffield via Woodhouse Mill

Greater Manchester

Rose Hill Marple-Macclesfield
Stoke on Trent-Congleton via Biddulph
Macclesfield-Stoke on Trent via Leek
Gorton-Fallowfield
Altrincham-Glazebrook
Timperley-Warrington Bank Quay Low Level
Buxton-Matlock
Northwich-Sandbach
Stalybridge-Diggle via Lower Arthur

Rest of the Country

Walsall-Stourbridge Junction
Wolverhampton-Coleshill Parkway
Kenilworth-Berkswell
Kings Norton-Birmingham New Street via Moseley
Leamington Spa-Rugby
Leamington Spa-Weedon Bec via Daventry
Aylesbury Vale Parkway-Leicester
Rugby-Leicester via South Wigston
Bedford-Market Harborough via Northampton
Northampton-Peterborough
Bedford-Cambridge
Grimsby Town-Spalding via Louth
Boston-Lincoln
Skegness-Lincoln
Horncastle-Woodhall Junction
Saxilby-Retford avoiding Gainsborough Lea Road
Grantham-Lincoln
Lincoln-Shirebrook
Melton Mowbray-Kings Lynn via Spalding
Kings Lynn-Hunstanton
Penrith-Workington via Cockermouth & Keswick
Hereford-Gloucester via Ross on Wye
Pontypool-Ross on Wye via Monmouth
Monmouth-Chepstow

Preserved Lines

Skipton-Grassington & Threshfield
Skipton-Embsay
Bolton Abbey-Ilkley (Embsay & Bolton Abbey)
Ingrow East-Halifax (Keighley & Worth Valley)
Northallerton-Hawes Junction (Wensleydale Railway)
Malton-Pickering (NYMR)
Hartlebury-Bewdley
Bridgnorth-Shrewsbury
Buildwas Junction-Wellington/Telford (Severn Valley/Telford)
Rawtenstall-Bacup
Heywood-Castleton (East Lancs)
Sheffield Park-Lewes (Bluebell)
Bishop's Lydeyard-Taunton (West Somerset)
Llangollen-Ruabon
Corwen-Bala
Corwen-Ruthun(Llangollen)

RAPID TRANSIT

Tyne & Wear Metro

Northumberland Park-Newbiggin/Blyth/Morpeth
Monkseaton-Seaton Delaval
Airport-Darras Hall
Byker-Percy Main via St Anthonys
St James-Throckley
Gateshead-Prudhoe
Metro Centre-Consett
Pelaw-Durham
South Hylton-Shiney Row
East Boldon-Tyne Dock

Manchester Metrolink

St Werburgh's Road-Fallowfield
Eccles-Wigan via Tyldesley
Tyldesley-Leigh
Roe Green-Bolton
Radcliffe-Bolton
Victoria-St Peters Square (2XC)
Rochdale-Bacup
Oldham-Greenfield
Oldham-Ashton under Lyne
East Didsbury-Stockport
Pomona-Glazebrook
Trafford Park-Trafford Centre

Merseyrail

Edge Hill-Albert Dock (via old tunnell)
Edge Hill-Kirkdale (Inner Circle)
Bootle New Strand-Hunts Cross (Outer Circle)
Bidston-Wrexham Central
Kirkby-Wigan Wallgate
Ormskirk-Preston
West Kirkby-Hooton
Ellesmere Port-Runcorn North
Liverpool South Parkway-Liverpool John Lennon Airport
Hawarden Bridge-Chester

 

[90019]

I'd build BML2.

Then I'd refuse to let anything run on it.

 

[Kali]

Exeter-Stoke Canon-Tiverton-Dulverton-Barnstaple-Ilfracombe. Can't imagine how long or how much the road realigning would take though...

While I don't have many fond memories of living around there, I'd have liked a trip on the train.

Okehampton-Bude perhaps, too.

 

[Eagle]

Ryde Pier head to Portsmouth Harbour (and maybe some tunnel enlargements south of there).

The bridge would probably be too low, but who cares, boats can just go round the other side of the island.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

I wouldn't. I would use money to electrify evrything - including Perth- Inverness. Why - it makes sense.

 

[90019]

I would be selfish and travel first class on every line I could and probably do many railway journeys every week. I would also do some of the classics such as the Trans Siberian etc.

I take it you didn't read the OP?

So. What if...money was (virtually) no object. Which line would you re-open? And why?

 

[GRALISTAIR]

I take it you didn't read the OP?

oops no -sorry. Edited - but I still did not truly answer his question.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Money no object? I'd bury the main commuter rail networks in this country, making them all GC+ loading gauge, standardised European platform height and 25kV in the process, whilst taking steps to weather-proof the intercity, inter regional and rural branch lines- with all lines going to to GC+ and OHL. The trackbeds of the buried commuter routes would become high quality, wide, pedestrian and cycle routes with superb connectivity to railway stations.

lol, I like it. But wouldn't it be better to build the new lines as elevated ones above the - umm - new pedestrian/cycle routes instead of burying them? Some of us like to look out the windows even on regular commutes!

Besides, think how much you'd save on not having to do all the funerals, plus getting weatherpoofing for walkers and cyclists on the paths for free!