Easiest Railway Lines to reinstate

[RichJF]

Following on from the thread "hardest railway lines to reinstate", it got me thinking. What are the disused railway lines with the fewest obstacles to reinstate?
Or to open it up a bit more, which disused lines would have large support for reopening.

A suggestion is Bristol-Portishead.

 

[Realfish]

Lichfield (City) to Walsall (Rycroft Jct)?

 

[Polarbear]

Logically, any route where the track & infrastructure is still largely intact would seem to qualify.

That said, you wouldn't believe that when considering how long it's taking to get some lines in England reopened, (Newcastle-Ashington being an example). Ok, the stations need building/re-building, but it's not like everything has to be rebuilt.

 

[yorksrob]

The Brightlingsea branch in Essex must be quite easy. Short with few earthworks or structures to speak of.

 

[rebmcr]

Green Park to Charing Cross

 

[Essexman]

The Brightlingsea branch in Essex must be quite easy. Short with few earthworks or structures to speak of.

It would need a new bridge over Alresford Creek.

 

[HowardGWR]

Bristol East (MR) to Yate would not be too difficult, mainly getting rid of a bingo hall at Lawrence Hill and some earthworks reinstated north of Mangotsfield. It avoids having to build a grade separated junction at Stoke Gifford in the future, too. Ditto the line from Mangotsfield to Bath.

Really, it's anywhere Sustrans bagged a line's solum for (mainly) leisure cyclists.

 

[gg1]

Lichfield (City) to Walsall (Rycroft Jct)?

.....and then extend to Stourbridge. The entire route has been protected from development since closure.

 

[Muzer]

Croxley link . No engineering obstacles; all political!

 

[B&I]

Track still in place: North Mersey branch. (Trickier if you want to connect to the docks, or to the Kirkby-Wigan line).

Track not still in place: CLC North Liverpool Extension / outer loop. (Trackbed mostly intact, except for the Knotty Ash Sainsburys)

 

[JamesRowden]

A model railway.

 

[gazthomas]

Amlwch and Trawsfynnyd

 

[lyndhurst25]

Clayton West branch. You'd just have to kick the Kirklees Light Railway off the trackbed.

 

[route:oxford]

Cowley Junction to Garsington Road.

Perhaps to Horspath Halt if shifted West slightly.

 

[Ianno87]

Croxley link . No engineering obstacles; all political!

Other than that whacking great new bridge over a major road.

And lack of money (given the now 'matured' cost estimate).

 

[Doctor Fegg]

Bristol East (MR) to Yate would not be too difficult, mainly getting rid of a bingo hall at Lawrence Hill and some earthworks reinstated north of Mangotsfield. It avoids having to build a grade separated junction at Stoke Gifford in the future, too. Ditto the line from Mangotsfield to Bath.

Really, it's anywhere Sustrans bagged a line's solum for (mainly) leisure cyclists.

I wouldn't say that the Bristol-Bath Railway Path is mainly leisure cyclists. It's a major commuter route these days - a recent count, carried out in December of all months, showed that over 3,800 people use it every weekday. There are plenty of railway paths which are mostly leisure use, but not that one.

 

[driver_m]

At Helens Central - Junction would be straightforward and could even be turned into a triangular junction to enable Liverpool bound traffic, which would be only realistic way of getting funding from a Liverpool city region mayor! A St Helens - Manchester service would be extremely useful but politically not something a pro-Liverpool mayor is ever going to agree too, as well as the usual bleating from NR about paths etc

 

[DanTrain]

Matlock - Buxton would be fairly easy physically, with much of the old track either cycle path or heritage railway. Politically however...

 

[nbdm]

Not sure if this counts, but the Camp Hill line through Birmingham is on a wishlist by local politicians.
Track still in use by freight and cross country non-stop, all the stations are gone however.
Also probably needs a connection to Moor Street as New Street is likely too full.

 

[randyrippley]

The Little North Western between Wennington and Lancaster would be easy- most of the route is a cycletrack and the rest remains clear, though the bridges at Halton might need some work.
Lancaster - Morecambe would be a problem due to Greyhound bridge now carrying road traffic.
Likewise the Ingleton line would be easy: the trackbed is clear and the viaducts remain in place.
Similarly Lancaster Castle- Glasson Dock would be simple: cycletrack all the way at present.

No chance of a business case for any of them though, unless reopening the Ingleton route was used as an excuse to shut the S&C

 

[Eastwestjct]

Totton - MarchwoodSignal - Hythe and towards Fawley

Track is all there. Som upgrading required for level crossings for passenger trains.

New station beyond Frost lane as a park and ride would work well

 

[IainG81]

Think some of the line between West Drayton and Staines will be if the southern Link to Heathrow is approved probably a tunnel under M25 is needed but much of it is still track bed is there still track does go as far as Colnbrook. Don't think it will be done to West Drayton but i think its one of the easier lines to bring back.

 

[apk55]

Sandbach Middlewich Northwich. Track is in place and in service for freight and diverted passenger trains however would probably need some upgrading. Otherwise all that would be involved would be building some platforms and possibly some minor track modifications.

 

[Malcolmffc]

Surely any heritage railway that is connected to the mainline?

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Skipton - Colne surely - if you listen to the supporters.

 

[USBT]

Surely any heritage railway that is connected to the mainline?

Yup.

East Grinstead to Sheffield Park (Bluebell Railway).

Central line Epping to Ongar.

Also at a stretch (not heritage) Piccadilly line Holborn to Aldwych.

 

[JohnElliott]

East Grinstead to Sheffield Park (Bluebell Railway).

Depends what you meant by 'reinstate' -- if you wanted it double track between East Grinstead and Horsted Keynes (as it was under BR), the work required would not be trivial.

 

[chorleyjeff]

The Little North Western between Wennington and Lancaster would be easy- most of the route is a cycletrack and the rest remains clear, though the bridges at Halton might need some work.
Lancaster - Morecambe would be a problem due to Greyhound bridge now carrying road traffic.
Likewise the Ingleton line would be easy: the trackbed is clear and the viaducts remain in place.
Similarly Lancaster Castle- Glasson Dock would be simple: cycletrack all the way at present.

No chance of a business case for any of them though, unless reopening the Ingleton route was used as an excuse to shut the S&C

The business case for the S&C never worked and using the Ingleton line would be a sensible reversion to the original plan.
Keep the ends S&C as freight branches to quarries if needed.

 

[driver_m]

Ok the track is open already but I wish the two tracks that would reopen are the fast lines on the Wirral between Birkenhead and Hooton. Painfully slow going to/from Chester. Mostly clear and ready to go in. I can wish!

 

[TommyD]

As far as I'm aware most of the track is still in situ, albeit rather overgrown, between Stoke-on-Trent and Leek. No station at Leek of course but the CVR is attempting to get one built.