Govt to close BR Ltd & sell off assets

[brianthegiant]

"Any remaining powers which are still needed will be transferred to the transport secretary, after some ‘asset disposals’.
BRB (Residuary) is currently still responsible for several thousand kilometres of disused railway lines, including bridges and the other structures on them."

from:
www.railnews.co.uk/news/general/2010/10/14-british-rail-to-be-wound.html

My main concern is regarding the assets of BRB Ltd, incl disused lines etc. if these are sold off to the private sector then subsequently built upon, then that may hinder future re-opening of lines. Especially pertinent at the moment since various branch lines are beinr re-opened by local groups, and former main lines being used for new high speed alignments (great-central=>HS2)

I sincerely hope these assets will be carefully reviewed for possible future re-opening before being sold-off.

 

[YorkshireBear]

oh dear, well thats bad, hopefully they will see sense i doubt even tories would allow potential lines to be removed cos im certain in their manifesto it said all old railway alignments will be asved for future possible use

 

[Sapphire Blue]

oh dear, well thats bad, hopefully they will see sense i doubt even tories would allow potential lines to be removed cos im certain in their manifesto it said all old railway alignments will be asved for future possible use

Maybe, but the manifestos of the Libs and the Cons were different, allowing them to hold their hands up and say "Not us" when either party are accused of not following promises.

 

[Greenback]

In any case, just because soemthing is a manifesto commitment, doesn't mean it will be carried forward! There have been so many promises by all governments that have been dropped it makes XC's Wi-fi failure seem very small potatoes indeed!

 

[asylumxl]

The Collision government has one agenda, and one agenda only. Money.

 

[route:oxford]

The Collision government has one agenda, and one agenda only. Money.

The same as the last one then, only from a different perspective!

The socialists just spent, spent, spent, decided to ignore who the banks were lending to... and allowed individuals to bankrupt themselves when they'd borrowed all they could with a fresh start in a couple of years.

The coalition are simply working to repay the excesses of the country and electorate over the past 13 years.

 

[WatcherZero]

BRB was always meant to be wound up when it finished its property disposals and it almost has, theirs not much left.

 

[brompton rail]

BRB was always meant to be wound up when it finished its property disposals and it almost has, theirs not much left.

A lot of what is left will include areas of land with little or no access (perhaps the middle of a railway triangle), structures (including tunnels, viaducts and bridges) etc. Sustrans has obtained some such structures and long closed railway lines, a number of which have been used in walking and cycling routes, thus retaining the integrity of the line. Quite a lot of BRBR disposals have a covenant attached that they cannot be sold on for development so that they could be returned to rail use if there was a national need.

The likelihood of a developer buying Ingleton Viaduct in the Yorkshire Dales for holiday homes is rather remote! It has houses beneath it already! Most of these structures have liabilities and no one (particularly local authorities) wants them, so they will remain on DafT's books for ever!

 

[mallard]

Maybe I should pick up one of these old trackbeds and lay some 10 1/4" track on it...