Hello from Railway Paths
I thought I'd reply, apologies for the length and detail, but the thread has covered quite a lot of ground since it was started in August 2020.
The ownership of the Appleby-Warcop line is split between Railway Paths Ltd (RPL) and the Eden Valley Railway Trust (EVRT). RPL own from Appleby to Sandford, and EVRT from Sandford to Warcop. You can see RPL's exact land
here. The land owned by RPL is presently leased to Sustrans, but with legally registered restrictions in favour of EVRT and the DfT.
As the landowners we would like to see the land used, I agree with the comments above that leaving it unused is a shame. I'm faced with two parties EVRT and Sustrans who have the power to prevent either doing anything, but neither have the resources to do something that would also satisfy the other party. The analogy, and I mean no disrespect to either party or to follically challenged people like myself, is proverbially 'two bald men fighting over a comb'.
As I understand it, the original line was single track, built on a double track alignment, but with single track bridges. With the exception of the pinch points at bridges it could be used for both rail and cycle. Sustrans have come up with three or four schemes in the past 23 years, but have not been able to fund them.
I like walking, cycling, national and heritage rail; I'm trying to see the situation from all sides. Personally, I think the cycle schemes are unlikely to be realised because they will be hard to justify based on use or injury avoided compared with building cycleways elsewhere. I hope that Sustrans will relinquish their lease.
Even if Sustrans stepped aside it would not be a simple matter to give the Appleby-Sandford section to EVRT.
Charity law requires that one charity cannot simply give its land to another charity unless the two charities have the same charitable objects. The land must be bought and sold on commercial terms. It is possible to get a dispensation from the Charity Commission if it can be proved that gifting the land will meet the objects of the charity making the gift. RPL has just got such a dispensation so that the Aln Valley Railway can have our land that allows them to link to Alnmouth, but in return they have agreed to build a cycleway alongside their new track.
A further complication exists in transferring land in respect to bridges that carry the line over/under a public highway, bridleway or footpath. We are required by the DfT to permanently extinguish all liabilities when we dispose of our land and to get permission from DfT. Anticipating this, I wrote to DfT last year to get agreement that heritage railways holding TWOs should be considered a fit and proper body to take public bridge liabilities. I am still waiting for a reply.
In my work on this problem I have found all the parties friendly and cooperative. I know that to make progress everyone will have to compromise. I don't want another 23 years of stalemate. Right now the only 'winner' is the River Eden as it gradually undermines the line.
Best wishes
David Pemberton
Railway Paths
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