Re-opening Britain's Railways (Part 3): Dumfries - Stranraer and Glastonbury 

The main advantage of re-opening the Stranraer - Dumfries line would be for freight. Freight could be moved from Stranraer (or Cairnryan) through Dumfries and directly to Newcastle creating a direct East-West link from NI to Europe. Passenger services could also use the route, including the re-instatement of the direct Stranraer - London services (including the sleeper) and also include significant improvements on the Stranraer - Ayr - Glasgow line to reduce the journey times to something reasonable. For such a nationally significant transport link, both the road and rail connections have been sadly neglected by both the UK and Scottish governments.

As someone who lives in Street, thanks for noticing us! I‘d love a rail connection more than I can say!!

I think The Borders line should be reopened in its entirety from Edinburgh to Carlisle. Although the line is very popular between Tweedbank and Edinburgh,two huge mistakes were made. The first mistake was obviously not reopening the full length of the line. To get to Galashiels from Carlisle one has to rely on a two hourly bus journey. The second mistake was the absolute short-sightedness of building a single track railway with passing loops between Edinburgh and Tweedbank. What is worse is the fact that new bridges which were built on that route were not future proofed for a double track railway. I would also say the Dumfries to Stranraer line is a must for reopening.

I definitely agree with the Stranraer to Dumfries reopening. You could even have a service that takes people from the late boat from Belfast and meets up with one of the Caledonian Sleeper services to London. In Ireland, the Great Northern line from Derry to Portadown would also be on my list for reopening.

Loved the dismissing of Tesco in Castle Douglas at 1.55.

Can’t believe that no-one’s mentioned the 11 miles between Skipton and Colne. Trackbed still intact and would restore a through route all the way from Leeds to Manchester.

Fraserburgh/Peterhead - Aberdeen, to help a very depressed corner of Scotland. In fact one could argue that it was the closure of this line which led to the area becoming depressed in the first place, by cutting off easy communication with Aberdeen. Aberystwyth - Carmarthen; Teign Valley Line, to supply an alternative to the GW main when the sea pounds Dawlish.

Okehampton-Tavistock North-Bere Alston gets my vote.

The coastal line between Exeter and Torquay is regularly closed due to weather related track and infrasstructure damage.Trains to Plymouth and onward to Penzance are curtailed by the closures. Now that the Exeter to Okehampton section is up and running again it would make sense to reconnect the line between Okehampton and Gunnislake, thereby ensuring train services to Plymouth and through Cornwall are maintained

The Formartine/Buchan line in Aberdeenshire really needs re-opening, a whole corner of the country is cut off. Same in Lincs - Louth should be reconnected. A line that was never built but would be great is Bournemouth - Exeter. Then a South Coast service could run from Brighton to Exeter avoiding the busy GWR route.

...look at a BR map from 1948 and OPEN THE BLOODY LOT!

THANK YOU for talking about this - no one in government has the foresight to improve links to NI by rail instead of road. As a student from NI who studied in England and avoids flying as much as possible for carbon reasons, I am well used to the 13 hour sail&rail detour via Glasgow. This line would be a godsend. Think expresses and sleepers to England etc. Freight would be more difficult (all Ireland rail review has ruled out a rail link to Belfast harbour) but there is a large amount of unaccompanied freight on the boat which could easily be shifted to rail. While I’m sure it would be physically possible to link Belfast Port to the rail network, the port of Larne might be more cost effective if the line was improved.

Those I can think of: Skipton - Colne Ivanhoe Line Uckfield - Lewes Stratford-upon-Avon - Honeybourne Walsall - Lichfield Market Harborough - Northampton Melton Mowbray - Nottingham (Tram-train) Leamside & Stillington Lines in the North East Wensleydale Line full connection between Northallerton - Garsdale Full reopening of the Borders Railway to Carlisle Line out to Stocksbridge from Sheffield (possible Tram-train) And so many other routes, most of these being "missing link" type of reopening where they would boost capacity and improve service. Now that HS2 is sadly being cancelled, even though it's unlikely to happen as the tories and Keir Starmer's labour couldn't give a toss about the railways, it would be great to see investment put into such schemes that would provide tangible improvement to the rail system in this country

The Woodhead route (Manchester to Sheffield) really should never have closed. If opened today it’d certainly relieve the strain on ‘Hope Valley’.

Barnstaple to Torrington including Barnstaple to Ilfracombe. North Devon has suffered badly from rail closures.

I think we’re talking ‘pie in the sky’ here! There’s more chance of seeing Lord Lucan riding on Shergar at Aintree than any of this happening!

My three votes would go for 1) Braintree to Bishops Stortford diverted to Stansted Airport. When the line was closed, the Dept of Housing moved thousands from Barking to Great Dunmow only to find the Dept of Transport shut the railway first. It was very disjointed. In those days, Stansted Airport had not taken off and inclusion of a north to west curve at Witham, would allow trains from big cities like Colchester and Ipswich to reach the airport. Most of the trackbed is still in situ. 2) Sudbury to Cambridge. This route was very hard fought by the locals and deeply mourned. It would join Colchester to Cambridge and link villages that have since become major towns like Haverhill. Again almost all the trackbed is still in situ. 3) Kings Lynn to Hunstanton. This line served the Sandringhsm Estate and the locals have kept every station (except Hunstanton which was bulldozed) in the hope of it reopening. As well as helping the local communities, Hunstanton is a popular seaside resort and traffic would be boosted by tourism. The trackbed is almost complete except for where the A149 nicked bits.

Now HS2 is dead a direct route from the East Midlands to Manchester can easily be reinstated by reopening the Matlock to Buxton (Great Rocks) section closed int he 1960's (surprise surprise) only 13 miles long it was the Midland Railway main line.

I would reopen the line from Barnstaple to bideford(as Torridge[the part of Devon where bideford is located] was discontinued from the railway when beaching swung his axe)

Dumfries to Stranraer - what a massive boost to the area where there's no railways at all. Having lived southwest of Castle Douglas, it was so poorly served for public transport. Just an FYI - Dalbeattie is pronounced Dall'beet'ee

Marks Tey/Sudbury to Cambridge via Haverhill. For an area so built up and connected by road it is very difficult to access the rest of the country by rail from the anglia main line. Also there is no bus route between haverhill and great yeldham so there is no way of getting to one of the most important cities in the area without a 2-3 hour detour via london or ipswich

Penrith to Keswick in the Lake District is an obvious one to me. This line survived Beeching but was run down by BR to such an extent that closure became inevitable by 1972. Much of the infrastructure still exists too.

Personally I'd to see the line between Bourne End and High Wycombe to be reopened.

Reopening the "Port Road" to Stranraer would be great, but I'd prioritise the Waverley route, right through to Carlisle. Meanwhile, the old Port Road makes an excellent walking and cycling track between Mossdale and Gatehouse of Fleet station.

A better link to Carnryan would be good but taking freight to NI might prove tricky. UK and NI have different rail gauges so youd have to unload from rail at one side and reload on the other. The other link that needs re-opening is from Tweedbank via Hawick towards Carlisle. This might me re-routing the line to join with the west coast mainline at Gretna would finish of the reopening of the Waverly line.

i live in AYR further up the coast from stranrarer and cairnryan etc, and for years the local population including me have been crying out for a better rail link to the port, about 10 years ago i worked in the opencast coal industry in scotland and a large amount of our coal was sent to ireland so had anywhere from 20 to 30 trucks a day transporting coal to cairnryan onto the ferry, so yes i agree with this video 100%

I think the Borders railway which currently runs from Edinburgh to Tweedbank should continue to Carlisle. The line also would benefit greatly from increased capacity as overcrowding is common on this line. There are several large towns in the borders such as ;Kelso, Coldstream,Hawick and Jedburgh to name a few which are at least 50 miles from the nearest railway station so these large towns could be connected via branch lines of the main Edinburgh - Carlisle line

Dumfries to Stranraer, to reopen that train line would makes the A75 safer for all road users. Travelling along that road after the ferry arrives is a nightmare.

Colne to Skipton and double track from Colne to Rosegrove should be a must as the track bed is largely intact, and would show the government are serious about levelling up!!!

Before they reopen Stranraer-Dumfries, they really need to build a railway from Dunragit to Cairnryan for a direct connection to the ferry. Rather than closing the line to Stranraer Harbour as you suggest (which would mean a longer walk from the station into the town), I would simply rebuild the station closer to Port Rodie. This option was proposed by SAYLSA (Now the South-West Scotland CRP) back in 2011. Some have suggested reopening the old Stranraer Town station, but it was no closer to the town than the harbour station.

Grew up in Street, so I can get behind this. The bus to Bristol is sooo slow. I think a link to Bridgwater or Highbridge would be worthwhile too though

The Waverley route in entirety is a must.

I went to Michael Wood services on the M5 in June. At 10 o'clock a.m., the services were very unusually packed and I realised after some time that nearly all the occupants were from Glastonbury, the Festival having just finished on that day. A rail line to Glastonbury would clearly alleviate very heavy traffic, as on that day, on the motorway and I am sure that those who were conscious of global warming from motor vehicles would use it. Most vehicles were diesel.

Totton to Fawley in Hampshire. It could considerably reduce commuter traffic into Southampton. The line already exists and the subject gets raised from time to time, but nothing ever gets done.

Well, in my part of the world, I would certainly like to see the link between Uckfield and Lewes restored. Closer to home the line from Shoreham Junction to Christs Hospital and its counterpart, the line north from Christ's hospital to Guildford. Unhelpfully, rather than preserve the route, Horsham Council have just buit a new estate on the Shoreham to Christ's Hospital route just outside Southwater.

I Think All Train Services That Were Removed Because of The Beeching Cuts Should Re-open To The Public

Dumfries to Lockerbie. It could have a rail link to Edinburgh and beyond. Beattock and Moffat. The only way to get to Lockerbie is via two buses (X74, 81) that runs for ages. Edit: the latter is outdated

I think, although it is very rural, the Mid-Wales railway would be an interesting one to open - especially if it is continued to the South Wales valleys via Merthyr Tudful - the reason why I think this is important is mainly connectivity in Wales - it takes a long time to travel through Wales and is impossible to go through Wales by train. By having the Mid Wales line open it would connect with the Cambrian line near Newtown and connect the towns of Llanidloes, Rhaedr, Builth, Brecon, and then on to Merthyr Tudful, giving a viable North-South link, restoring rail links to Llani, Rhae, Builth and Brecon, and relieving pressure on the mountain roads

if you re open stranraer - dumfries line, reopen the line from Kirkcudbright to Castle Douglas as well as the other branch line that was on the stranraer - dumfries line

The line between Bishop’s Stortford and Braintree would be a good candidate for reopening. It would finally get rid of the awkward massive gap between the two core Greater Anglia networks and make a lot of journeys across Essex much more viable. Plus practically the whole line and most of the stations have been preserved as a walking trail, so it would be very achievable.

I live near newton stewart and the potential amount of lorry's a rail link could remove would be a bonus. Stranraer town station is just sitting abandoned.

There would be massive tourism benefit on the Dumfries/Stranraer line. The forest hills north of that are amazing, potentially as lovely an area for outdoors lovers as the lakes. And the Scottish riviera already has arts, crafts and food. I should know. I've walked it a bit and suffered the complicated multi bus journies from Edinburgh.

I know very little about the areas and I still enjoyed the video and understood the case for opening.

There is also considerable container freight traffic between northern cities and Cairnryan currently via road transport and the M6

Okehampton to Bere Alston in West Devon, thus reinstating the old Waterloo-Exeter-Plymouth route providing an alternative route to the Southwest of England, reconnecting Tavistock on the network, and ,more importantly, being a route avoiding the total dependance on the only rail connexion to the Southwest along the weather vulnerable GWR route at Dawlish.

I have just turned 48, I fully agree with you about the lines mentioned in this video, but thh, if and when i turn 75, we will still be talking about it.

Track gauge in Ireland is 5'3" not UK standard gauge so difficult to justify a train ferry from Cairnryan to Belfast

Dumfries to Stranraer used to be known as the Paddy line, certainly reopening it would be useful as it would take much of the strain off the A75 trunk road but I doubt very much it will happen anytime soon.

Very much agree. A great circle - Bristol, Bath, Frome, Shepton, Wells, Glastonbury, Bridgwater, Weston, Yatton, Bristol would connect Somerset into Bristol and reconnect all those Somerset towns.

Obvious one I always say is the Woodhead line between Manchester and Sheffield, yes Sheffield Victoria isn't open but I personally think Sheffield could do with a second station.

if I was to reopen a station it would be Rolleston-on-dove train station

The "port road" from Dumfries to Stranraer has many obstacles to rebuilding. Many bridges would need replacing and the big water of fleet viaduct is life expired. Some (but not a great amount) of the trackbed has been built on and would need purchasing to remove things like Tesco superstores. At the Stranraer end of the line, the ferry to Ireland moved out years ago and would need to move back from Cairnryan to give a passenger service any use of the railway.

The most obvious omission is the Carlisle to Galashiels line via Hawick connecting onto the new Borders Railway.

Fantastic video as usual, well done

What puts me off travelling to mainland by Ferry as someone from Belfast, is the sheer lack of rail connections. Much rather fly, even if I want to go on the train, I’d take the train to Dublin then to Holyhead and train from there, there is only 2 services a day running from Stranraer, neither in conjunction with ferry times. The bus puts me off

I would reopen the Spen Valley Line in West Yorkshire and provide a cross city link in Bradford to the Forster Square Station.

Dumfries - Stranraer was just beautiful. It was recreated in the Train Simulator game, if anyone wants a taster (~70% discount in the Steam summer & winter sales).

Cranleigh to Guildford! So much building and rubbish buses and crowded roads.

East Lincolnshire Line MUST be re-opened so does the MAGN

You could have a station nearer to Stanraer, on a stub of the current line, which could be served by all trains. Build a wye so the train heads in, the driver changes ends and then the train departs to head north or east. Could also be used to turn steam locos running an excursion.

Festival are always great for train to serve, there an example of where parking is always going to be really impractical. Burton upon trent to Leicester Line via Coalville and Ashby?

I would suggest the old Midland and Great Northern Joibt Railway for avoiding London freight traffic from the Midlands and North along with serving Lical passenger services.

The Cuckoo Line from Uckfield to Lewes has been considered for re-opening for many years but nothing has been done for it. Most of the former route is walking paths. A connection like this would mean that people wanting to travel to Lewes or Uckfield don't have to go all the way up to London and back down again

Dumfries to Stranraer is certainly desirable - and not just on this side of the Irish Sea, I shouldn't imagine; and maybe even if it involves losing the line circuitous route south of Girvan, as most of the Glasgow - NI passenger traffic now flies, or sails via Troon. But the Cairnryan branch is even more urgent - and your idea of a new, Parkway-type station on the edge of Stranraer will serve it just as well as the old Harbour station! Even as we speak, the rarely-used Mauchline line is sitting there, poised for the freight to start flowing again. It's a no brainer, really! Glastonbury & Street is also a nice idea, but for a yearly festival, run by a farmer nearing retirement age - that was for long the only one of its type but which is now one of many worthy projects? If money were no object, perhaps....

Open Forth Bridge direct to Perth. Was lifted. Line through Forfar was lifted. Dunblane Callander, lifted. Aberdeen Fraserburgh. loads of essential routes.

Leicester-Burton upon Trent line is a big one for me, a freight-only line at the moment, it passes through Kirby Muxloe (pop. 5k), Coalville (38k), and Ashby-de-la-Zouch (16k), all of which don't currently have a train station. This, as well as providing a route between Leicester and Burton

personally, I'd like to see the Barnsley-Doncaster line reopened (allowing a direct interchange with the East Coast Main Line), though intermediate stops would be difficult as the line has been built over in the two largest towns on the route, Wombwell and Wath upon Dearne another good idea to my mind would be reopening the Doncaster-Worksop line, as the track is still in place, and it would serve Maltby and Dinnington, two of the worst connected towns in South Yorkshire; it could be combined with an express route between Worksop and Sheffield, and the existing all-stops route between Sheff and Donny, forming a circular route like the Leeds-Knottingley-Wakefield route in West Yorkshire

If we're putting back old track in Somerset, might as well run the line from Glastonbury to Wells and follow the old strawberry line route to Yatton. The trackbed is still there (from Cheddar) as a bike path and there's been little development that would get in the way. Cheddar and Wells are big tourist destinations and suffer terribly from traffic congestion in summer which would be relieved massively by a half hourly rail service to/from Bristol. It would also significantly improve commuter services as the bus from Wells to Bristol in particular is dreadful.

Interesting video. I think the most important projects should be Dumfries to Stranraer with an extension to Cairnryan, and reopening the Waverley line in its entirelym, reinstating the closed section between Galashiels and Carlisle. I live in Mid Somerset and have different ideas about reopening the railway to Glastonbury. There is already a railway from Witham Junction near Frome almost as far as Shepton Mallet, the first part being Mendip Rail for the quarry at Downhead which is continued on the East Somerset Railway at Cranmore. It would be difficult to rebuild along the original route to Wells as the railway used to cross the trunk A37 road on the level and I don't think anyone would want the reinstatement of the level crossing at this point. But the railway could be realigned southwards around the town and rejoin the original route to Wells behind the present day Tesco superstore. The new alignment would pass close to a large industrial estate and quite possibly Gregorys and other major traffic producers could be encouraged to move some of their business to rail. At Wells the line of the railway has been built on but it could be reinstated on the west side of the bypass and join the long-closed Somerset and Dorset branch to Glastonbury. All three towns in Mid Somerset would then be connected to the rail network. Glastonbury Festival would not have a train station but the festival is only held once a year and the line would only be a mile away from Pilton. The line would also benefit the Bath and West Showground, if the new station at Shepton Mallet had plenty of shuttle buses when there is a major event on. I haven't forgotten about the East Somerset Railway, which is a long-established undertaking and could be trusted to share the track between Cranmore and Shepton Mallet if it had its own platforms in both places and run trains to the same rules as the many main line steam-hauled excursion trains on the current rail network.

Sunderland to South Shields via Brockley Whins would only need electrifying as the route is still used by freight.

In the southwest I'd add continue that to a new stop south of Taunton at Wellington. A sizeable town lacking trains and demanding a ten mile each way road journey to access trains.

Seeing as we're already in fantasy territory, the Holmfirth branch would do decent numbers today if it still existed, relieving the congested A616 into Huddersfield. Sadly there's a missing viaduct and a load of large executive homes near the junction with the existing Huddersfield to Sheffield line at Brockholes.

revisiting the Glastonbury station idea- I'm wondering about the possibility of using the existing freight-only Merehead quarry line and going via Shepton Mallet on the way towards Glastonbury- possibly even going via Wells too

The Cambridge to Sudbury line closed on 6 March 1967; the link from Bartlow to Audley End closed in 1964.

Both suggestions make a great duel of sense ..

Did I hear the train announcer at the end

Both cases were well presented, thanks.

I think the route is an excellent choice for all the reasons you say, and it might be possible to arrange for a terminal/storage facility at the end of new part by the ferry. I find it's usually cheaper/better to relocate an old line on the original route generally, especially if the old route opposite the possible tunnel could have one or two useful stops. The bother with a few minimal acquisitions in town is nothing compared to HS2 going through every golf course and grave yard they could find. I'm not familiar with the line but do a lot of the same kind of speculation in the Western Hemisphere. (Google earth is helpful because if you read the elevations in feet it's a lot more exact that meters, so you have a survey for free, which can be corroborated with topo maps, but it's much more detailed and accessible. It's also "possible" to make fairly accurate depictions of your intentions railwise, with headings down to the 2nd decimal ((and farther if you measure it, assuming it's long enough to matter.)) England is about 50 or 60 years behind us in the US as far as rail destruction goes - we invented it, as a racket, about 1945, and now it's spreading internationally. The Beaching Cuts? That's nothing compared to having actual racketeers in control of the railroads, but it is symptomatic of the same mindset. England was just more resistant to it than us. I don't know what to tell you to do about that. It's very difficult to make people interested in your talk of curves and grades because, if it's like here, 'rail culture' is dead. Even rail foamers/fanatics, or train buffs, find all that business of civil engineering boring and unimportant, whereas it's the only thing that matters. All they like is steam engines ...freight trains, and some, rarely, luxury trains. The same is true of the politicians, and that's why these rail design professionals are able to get away with willfully dooming their planned "improvements" from the start. It helps to own for all practical purposes what we call administrative agencies like the Federal Railroad Administration too, which they do. I'm not saying it's possible, but to get after the big international (generally US based or originated) consultants who caused the insane circuitousness with grinding around loopy high speed curves and tunnels ad infinitum, and the continual dithering with change orders + so on, and the unnecessary excavations in a huge radius around that station by the library in London, and putting Birmingham on a spur instead of on the/a main line where it belongs, should be called to account. (and pay to the point of their own destruction rather that of the system of transportation) There is a form of lawsuit called respondeat superior so you don't have to insult anyone that you don't intend to collect money from, but is it possible they're really that dumb? I doubt it. Still it's nice to give them the benefit of the doubt.

I would build a loop through to Glasgow Central via Stranraer, Cairnryan Harbour to Girvan and continue trains through to Ayr, Prestwick Airport, and on to Paisley Gilmour Street and Glasgow Central. This could help reverse the decline of Prestwick Airport.

the marlebone to leamington line it would be good as the station at rugby is pretty much still there and most of the routes area is still in tact

The trouble with the routing on the Glastonbury service is that it goes over moor land which sits below sea level and his very prone to flooding. There would need to be some massive engineering works just to elevate it.

I would suggest that re-opening the railway from Carmarthen station to Aberystwyth with a branch line from Lampeter to Aberaeron. This will provide a much needed South to North route between what is TfWs three seperate networks where trains have to actually leave Wales to travel via Shrewsbury to link between the networks. It would be a good idea for electrification of the whole route from Cardiff central, through Swansea and Carmarthen to Lampeter, Aberaeron and Aberystwyth. A much needed link for Wales.

For the Glastonbury Line, perhaps going via Shepton Mallet and Wells from Frome would be a better idea, so it can serve extra populations and boost tourism to the smallest city in England.

Stranraer could even get a station in the town itself, and run either a shuttle service to the outer station or just split/couple trains there

Obviously not a priority but a link from the NYMR to Malton so that services could run from Whitby to York and beyond.

Hi great vid mate keeo up the amazing work i would love for more valleys line to be reopened, like neath to Brecon and neath to Merthyr Tydfil

I have just finished reading the book called "The Port Line", I doubt this line will ever reopen due to the line route and the obstacles .

I would reccomend the reopening of: Salisbury and Dorset Junction Railway A station at Knowle to serve the mass of new developments there. Reinstating lines from Fareham to Gosport and possibly a train ferry from Gosport to Portsmouth. Meon Vallet Line from Alton to Portsmouth.

The railway network needs to be rebuilt to the scale of 1960.

Surely you should open March to wisbeach line, two large towns in Cambridgeshire and the track hasn’t even been raised it is just very disused. You would just need a station at the wisbeach end and then tada, new rail line

The sad fact is the high streets have died and even if you could get a train thire thire will be no shops 😢

A new rail line and services - for a once a year music festival? Hmmm. The towns of Glastonbury and Street themselves would not generate enough traffic to justify the investment, I suspect. The Dumfries to Stranraer suggestion was much more sensible, although I think the main usage would not be ferry traffic but freight. Between the late 1800s and 1950, the "Port Road" (Dumfries-Stranraer railway) was exceptionally busy with the freight traffic.

The suggested route for Glastonbury wouldn't be pheasible the land regulary floods over winter Although a rail connection would be useful as with many areas redevelopment has taken over the lines

Didcot to Southampton via Newbury and Winchester is seriously important to reopen

Re open Buckingham to Verney junction to connect with the soon to be reopened Oxford Bletchley line.

There are many now densely populated towns in west yorkshire, particularly the leeds bradford areas with no stations for miles, like Cleckheaton

Reopen the Derby to Manchester main line through the Peak District, another line not scheduled for closure in the Beeching Report. Before the days of electrification, many passengers going from London to Manchester would take the Midland route because of the scenery. The Euston and St Pancras journey times were once about the same, until electrification in 1966.

Mate the Glastonbury festival takes place in the village of Pilton which is south of shepton mallet so any train track up that way would go vie shepton. For one there is a rather large brewery which would handly use the rail infrastructure to expand there business. Oh not to mention this silly plan of your completely miss out Wells which unlike Glastonbury, Shepton Mallet and Street is in fact a city and the de facto capital of the region. In fact frankly any railway would probably end short of Glastonbury because no one wants give the Glastonbury loons a chance to spread.

The huge amount of the giant articulated trucks is not really suitable for Galloways road system. Would be cheaper to reopen line than try and blast more roads through the hard granite.

The Great Central should be reopened, including the Woodford Halse to Banbury line. This would provide a north to south service to almost anywhere in the country, without the need to go to London. The line could have been used as the basis for HS2, using the Woodford to Stratford line, ( the old S&MJ route) then the existing GW line to Birmingham. This would have saved millions. Also reinstate the four tracks on the GW main line into Birmingham, and make the Rugby to Birmingham line four-track throughout. Reopening the Great Central would give Nottingham a station right in the City Centre. Reopening the Woodhead line gives extra capacity between Sheffield and Manchester. There is no need to build a new line linking Manchester and Leeds. Reopen the Micklehurst loop, and the two single track Standedge Tunnels. There was once a four-track main line from there to Huddersfield, and reopening the Gildersome line provides another route to Leeds.