Trivia: Railways that were proposed for closure but did not closed.

[Jorge Da Silva]

Which railways were proposed for closure at some point but never did and got saved.

 

[trebor79]

Peterborough - Spalding was closed, but then reopened before the March - Spalding route closed.

 

[A0wen]

Which railways were proposed for closure at some point but never did and got saved.

Hope Valley - proposed for closure under Beeching with Woodhead and Chinley - Matlock being retained, BR did the opposite.

St Albans Abbey line - another Beeching proposal which didn't happen.

Island Line - full closure of the IoW was proposed in Beeching report, Ryde - Shanklin survived.

Heart of Wales - another Beeching proposed closure which survived.

 

[Sprinter156]

Pretty sure Ayr - Stranraer was proposed but survived

 

[Bletchleyite]

Marston Vale. Survived because United Counties couldn't/wouldn't provide a bus service.

 

[Ianno87]

Par/St. Blazey to St. Dennis Junction. Proposed for closure in the 1990s to be replaced by re-instating the route from Parkandillack instead.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Settle and Carlisle?

 

[steamybrian]

There were a large number of lines/stations in the 1963 Beeching report but were subsequently saved

from St Erth to St Ives to....
far north lines north of Inverness to Wick/Thurso/Kyle
Ashford- Ore
Tyseley- Wilmecote via Henley was saved at the last moment.
Dovey Junction to Pwhelli

 

[Gloster]

And of course there was Option A of the Serpell Report: 16% of the mileage remaining. However, this depends on how you define ‘proposed for closure’.

 

[Smitham]

Settle and Carlisle?

Yes. In the sixties and then the eighties.

 

[YorksLad12]

Bradford-Ilkley being slated for closure rings a bell. Instead of which it's now a busy* commuter route.

*Definitions of busy may vary with the times.

 

[RichJF]

Marshlink = 1969

Hurst Green Junction - Uckfield = 1966. As part of a wider Hurst Green to Lewes closure plan

 

[duncanp]

The North Warwickshire line, from Birmingham (Snow Hill & Moor Street) to Stratford Upon Avon via Shirley was proposed for closure in the Beeching report, but survived because of strong local opposition, which eventually resulted in a high court injunction forbidding closure.

British Rail tried to close the line South of Henley in Arden in the 1980s, but were again thwarted by a strong local response.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Not a line as such but Marylebone station

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Pretty sure Ayr - Stranraer was proposed but survived

Believe you are correct. A lot of the smaller intermediate stations between Ayr and Stranraer were however closed in c. 1965, such as Kilkerran, Dailly, Pinmore, Pinwherry, Glenwhilly, New Luce, Dunragit and Castle Kennedy, and possibly some others as well, but the line itself survives. For now!

 

[paddy1]

Firsby Junction to Skegness was included in the proposed closure of a whole number of lines in Lincolnshire in 1970, which would have meant no services beyond Boston, but was reprieved. However, everything north of Firsby, including the Mablethorpe branch, was closed in September 1970, along with the line between Boston and Peterborough. Like another contributor has already pointed out, the section between Peterborough and Spalding re-opened a year later.

 

[Neptune]

Bradford-Ilkley being slated for closure rings a bell. Instead of which it's now a busy* commuter route.

*Definitions of busy may vary with the times.

Only busy at school times and could easily cope with an hourly service outside the peaks. Same with Skipton and Leeds - BDQ.

 

[urbophile]

Liverpool to Southport, amazingly.

 

[MarlowDonkey]

Not a line as such but Marylebone station

Trains from High Wycombe would have gone to Paddington and those from Amersham were to be replaced by Metropolitan Line services to Baker Street. So I think the line from South Ruislip to Marylebone would have closed. From Marylebone to somewhere convenient for motorways, the idea was a replacement road dedicated to coaches.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Liverpool to Southport, amazingly.

Hard to believe that one. Liverpool Exchange station has since closed, but that's about it.

 

[Djgr]

Hard to believe that one. Liverpool Exchange station has since closed, but that's about it.

Yes play that one back when people talk about the Beeching cuts being sensible!

Bidston-Wrexham
Norwich-Sheringham
Oldham-Rochdale
Colchester-Sudbury

 

[lord rathmore]

Lowestoft to Ipswich (the East Suffolk line) was on the Beeching list but has survived, also Norwich to Sheringham survived Beeching.

 

[D365]

And of course there was Option A of the Serpell Report: 16% of the mileage remaining. However, this depends on how you define ‘proposed for closure’.

I was waiting for the Serpell Report to be mentioned!

The North Warwickshire line, from Birmingham (Snow Hill & Moor Street) to Stratford Upon Avon via Shirley was proposed for closure in the Beeching report, but survived because of strong local opposition, which eventually resulted in a high court injunction forbidding closure.

British Rail tried to close the line South of Henley in Arden in the 1980s, but were again thwarted by a strong local response.

Why were they so desperate to remove trains from Stratford-upon-Avon?

 

[Ianno87]

Oldham-Rochdale

*Technically* that was eventually formally closed...in 2009 to become Metrolink (with the rest of the Oldham Loop)

 

[Brush 4]

Stratford was still served via Solihull. By isolating Henley in Arden as a terminus, it would have been easier to make a case for closure there later. Devious lot BR.

 

[d9009alycidon]

Barrhead to Kilmarnock should have closed, with Dalry to Kilmarnock retained but as it turned out it was the other way round

 

[Falcon1200]

Barrhead to Kilmarnock should have closed, with Dalry to Kilmarnock retained but as it turned out it was the other way round

I wonder whether the need to serve the MoD at Giffen was a factor in that decision, given that all the stations between Barrhead and Kilmarnock were closed (albeit three have since re-opened, two quite soon after closure) and the route is fairly steeply graded, compared to the Ayr main line ?

 

[Grecian 1998]

Exeter - Exmouth was proposed for closure in the Beeching report but was quickly removed by BR without any prompting from any other party. No-one seemed to know why it was included in the first place.

Plenty of other lines mentioned in Beeching which are still here today such as:

Liskeard - Looe
Barrow - Whitehaven
Conwy Valley line
Severn Beach line
Esk Valley line

Dovey Junction to Pwhelli

This one doesn't appear in the 1963 report, although it was under threat in the 1980s due to structural problems affecting Barmouth bridge.

And of course there was Option A of the Serpell Report: 16% of the mileage remaining. However, this depends on how you define ‘proposed for closure’.

I would take the 1963 Beeching report to be a genuine intention to close all selected routes as it refers to BR's proposed withdrawal of passenger services. The 1965 report on trunk routes didn't expressly state that all non-selected routes would be closed. Serpell came up with a list of options but none of them were stated to be firm proposals. BR spent most of the 80s focusing closure efforts on the Settle & Carlisle.

I'm sure I've read in a book on BR / Beeching that BR sent a list of lines to the government seeking permission to replace them with buses in 1987 which included the usual suspects but this was unsurprisingly refused. I haven't been able to find it again though. Maybe I just dreamt it.

 

[Doctor Fegg]

Kettering to Corby was closed, reopened, closed again, reopened again. Unique?

 

[hermit]

Plymouth to Gunnislake - reprieved because the geography and narrow roads made a replacement bus impracticable.