Railway Paths Ltd (RPL) have signed an agreement so Defra can release £63k grant
Recent
Aug 2020 – Bennerley Viaduct, Notts/Derbyshire
Aug 2020 – Appleby – Warcop, Cumbria
At long last, the new route for the A66 in this area has been finalised and a final round of consultations is due to start. The route of the road will avoid the trackbed of the old railway, which the DfT must regard as some kind of asset, despite the ‘final solution’ inclinations of the […]
Aug 2020 – Winchester, Hampshire
Recently our correspondent just managed to find a space in Garnier Road Car Park next to the old GWR trackbed just south of Winchester. This is because last September a new refreshments establishment, called The Handlebar Café, was built on the trackbed – increasing footfall considerably, but not necessarily onto the old line. (Richard Lewis)
Aug 2020 – Weymouth, Dorset
Jul 2020 – Athlone, Republic of Ireland
A 25-mile rail trail has been created between Athlone and Mullingar in the Republic of Ireland. A route map with access points may be found on the Westmeath County Council website. The trail, which was opened in October 2015, uses a converted stretch of the Midlands Great Western Railway and is intended eventually to form […]
Jul 2020 – Keswick, Cumbria
£8 million project to rebuild the Keswick – Threlkeld railway path in Cumbria remains on target for completion by the end of the year.
Jul 2020 – Upton & North Elmsall, West Yorkshire
A local group want to reinstate Upton and North Elmsall Station near Wakefield, which was once a stop on the Hull and Barnsley Railway and closed in 1959. The line, which was built to transport coal to Hull’s docks, ran through what is now Upton Country Park, and the group plan to lay a single […]
Jul 2020 – Fawley, Hampshire
Last month a ‘fact-finding’ passenger train traversed the Fawley branch – also known as the Waterside line – carrying, among others, Network Rail Chairman, Sir Peter Hendy, and Rail Minister, Chris Heaton-Harris, as plans for a large new residential development at Fawley have revived hopes of restoring the rail link. The line could also give […]
Jul 2020 – Shepton Mallet, Somerset
Jun 2020 – Preston, Lancashire
Further to the report in RR 166 on the Longridge path extension to Deepdale, there is also a private promoter plan, reported optimistically for over a decade now, for a new tram on the old formation from the city via the Deepdale area to a Park & Ride in the area of the former Courtaulds […]
Jun 2020 – Upper Wensleydale, North Yorkshire
The Upper Wensleydale Railway project is a plan to reopen the section of line from Garsdale on the West Coast Mainline, to the market town of Hawes. It is hoped that a reinstated junction with the existing Leeds – Settle – Carlisle railway line at Garsdale will allow ‘through’ trains to run from Hawes via […]
Jun 2020 – St. Margaret’s Loop, East Grinstead, East Sussex
May 2020 – Merthyr Tydfil, Mid Glamorgan
An online survey regarding Merthyr Tydfil and Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Councils’ joint proposals to reopen Merthyr (aka Abernant) Tunnel to walkers and cyclists has received almost 800 responses. The tunnel would form part of a 4-mile traffic free route linking Merthyr and Aberdare. Merthyr councillor Geraint Thomas said ‘The consensus appears to be […]
May 2020 – Bennerley Viaduct, Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire
The restoration of Bennerley Viaduct on the Notts/Derbs border was suspended on 24th March, just as the coronavirus lockdown was introduced. However, Bill Tomson, who oversees this project on behalf of the charity Railway Paths Ltd., has informed the club that the contractors re-started their work on Monday 18th May. The intention is to develop the […]
May 2020 – Newquay to Perranporth, Cornwall
The former Newquay to Chacewater railway between Newquay and Perranporth is due for a new lease of life as a rail trail thanks to a Cornwall Council project to create four new walking and cycling routes under the name ‘The Saints Trails’. Outline details and a high quality map can be found at the first […]
May 2020 – Weymouth to Portland, Dorset
Work continues in Rodwell, Weymouth, at the Buxton Road overbridge (grid reference SY 675779) on eponymous The Rodwell Trail, which re-uses the northern part of the former joint LSWR and GWR branch line from Melcombe Regis to Easton. The work, which should be finished in June, is an ‘inspection on steroids’, in which any faults […]