Great Central Main Line: Could it ever be reopened?

[Tobbes]

If bus and rail services were treated as a unified network as they are in most countries with decent public transport, then the rational decision would be to pay for a decent bus service rather than spending a huge amount on building a railway.

That's completely fair, and that was what the BTC was theoretically all about. But Brackley could have a case for reinstatement if there are sufficient houses built along the old GC route to Rugby - and the railway would have to go in ahead of the houses, obviously.

 

[Railwaysceptic]

That's completely fair, and that was what the BTC was theoretically all about. But Brackley could have a case for reinstatement if there are sufficient houses built along the old GC route to Rugby - and the railway would have to go in ahead of the houses, obviously.

Do you believe there is going to be a mass building programme in that park of the country? I'd have thought HS2 would blight the area for miles around.

 

[Tobbes]

There are very strong reasons to build along the GC corridor, as it opens up 60 min commuting to London and the West Midlands, as well as radial opportunities in the Oxford - MK - Cambs arc. HS2 planning blight is against existing properties in that any new build will be in the knowledge of where HS2 is going, and will probably be built largely after HS2 Phase 1 construction is complete. If successive Governments are really serious about housebuiliding, schemes on the scale of GC South reinstatement and electricfication of it and Chiltern lines are essential.

 

[Robertj21a]

That's true. But think of the poor people of Brackley who want to go away for the weekend - or have visitors come to them. Cutting a town off completely from public transport on a Sunday night is cruel. Sunday transport provision in the shire counties in particular is dire.

There's plenty of places around the UK with no public transport on a Sunday night - even Sunday daytime too !