On this day 117 years ago, an inaugural train passed over the new double-track Wilmington swing bridge, easing traffic flows around Hull's docks.
Featured videos...
Join us socially...
News stories
News stories
Against the odds, the UK’s network of disused railway lines continues to make the news as the 21st Century throws up a host of transport, environmental and health challenges.This news page will provide links to relevant stories.
The industrial past of a former Norfolk railway line is to be brought back to life, having served as an important link between Norwich and the Midlands for more than 100 years.
A derelict platform in the bowels of Glasgow Central Station is to be restored to its heyday to enhance popular behind-the-scenes tours of the complex.
Goldthorpe Railway Environmental Improvement Project is to benefit from a grant of £40,000 which will help to turn a former trackbed - frequently blighted by fly-tipping - into a community space.
A petition calling for the reinstatement of the disused railway between Witney and Oxford - first put forward by the Green Party - has gathered more than 1,000 signatures.
The Historical Railways Estate has applied for planning permission and listed building consent to carry out a programme of repairs and clean-up works on Castlefield Viaduct, one of Manchester's most recognisable heritage structures.
The group working to save the disused Queensbury Tunnel from abandonment and turn it into a cycle path has launched an ePetition to demonstrate public support for the idea.
A lengthy wrangle over a footpath providing access to Tadcaster Viaduct has ended in defeat for County Council officials and rights-of-way campaigners.
A cycle path that runs from the site of Tetbury's old station will be extended following an agreement to route it along a privately-owned section of disused railway.
A major festival will offer an insight into the coming of the steam age to Strathearn and the stunning impact railways had on local towns and villages.
The Transport Secretary has confirmed the Government's commitment to reopen 11 miles of disused railway between Bletchley and Claydon Junction as part of a strategic east-west link.
A campaign group pushing for a new transport hub at Cirencester's old railway station has welcomed support from a Cotswold MP who says he is 'appalled' by the town's bus facilities.
Northern Ireland's Infrastructure Minister has allocated £8,000 to Mid and East Antrim Council to take forward plans to develop local greenway paths, many of which will occupy former railway lines.
After years of stalling, Preston's tram plans could finally move forward after Council officers recommended a pilot scheme on a section of disused railway.
Ambitious plans to transform one of Leeds' disused railway viaducts into a public park are set to be showcased. Under the scheme the viaduct's arches would provide new commercial space for shops, cafes, bars and restaurants.
A disused railway tunnel under Queensbury, which a campaign group is hoping to reopen as a cycle path, has been designated as a Historical Engineering Work by the Institution of Civil Engineers.
The Grade II listed Old Waterside Station has been confirmed as the site of Londonderry's new transport hub after it was confirmed as the public's preferred location as part of a consultation process.
Volunteers and staff at Richmond's old railway station are reeling after lead on the roof was targeted by thieves, but say they were lucky to escape major water damage.
Work to clear an eight-mile stretch of railway between Trawsfynydd and Blaenau Ffestiniog is set to start, with a view to volunteers eventually reopening the line.
Proposals to build a 600-mile network of paths through Northern Ireland's rural landscape - much of it along disused railways - looks set to receive political support.
A severely-damaged Victorian goods shed, which was wrecked in a fierce blaze, has been demolished due to the risk it would have collapsed onto a busy railway line.
Funding has been secured for the opening of eight disused railway arches in Belfast - known as the Lanyon Tunnels - for use as commercial properties and a base for community-oriented projects.
A disused railway cutting at the centre of a long-running planning row is, for the time being, safe from developers after Bolton Council threw out an application to fill it in.
Campaigners hope that trams could take traffic away from the centre of Hereford within three years by using a disused railway line to the south of the city.
Work to replace an old railway bridge that carries a busy road into Liverpool are making progress as part of a £32 million project to improve links to the docks.
There could soon be light at both ends of Rhondda Tunnel after the local council granted a licence to the society hoping to reopen it as a tourist attraction.
A new £300,000 cycle path, running along a section of former railway, has been officially opened in Carmarthenshire, boosting links between Pembrey and Kidwelly.
Metal fences are being erected to stop walkers using a disused railway bridge over the River Wye which is awaiting repairs likely to cost around £700,000.
The Rhondda Tunnel Society has undertaken a survey which found visitors would be willing to pay a toll to travel through the tunnel as a means of paying for its upkeep if it is reopened.
Campaigners for a second Brighton mainline - incorporating parts of a disused railway - are hopeful the new Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling, will support their position.
Ambitious plans to expand Tyne and Wear's rail and Metro networks have been drawn up by public transport bosses, including the reopening of several disused lines.
A campaign to turn a derelict railway tunnel under Queensbury into a cycle path has run into difficulties after Highways England said the cost of repairs would run to £35 million.
A £16.5 million project to restore part of the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway could be 'shovel ready' in just over two years after North Devon Council granted planning permission.
Technical difficulties with the track design through the Avon Gorge have led to a delay in the Portishead reopening scheme being submitted for Government approval.
Campaigners seeking to reopen the disused Thornton North Junction-Methil line say that "ludicrously pessimistic" passenger forecasts for the Borders Railway could threaten the project.
The new West Midlands Combined Authority is drawing up a 10-year investment plan to expand the local rail network, including bringing a disused line back into service.
Reopening the old railway between High Wycombe and Bourne End may not be "pie in the sky" as plans are developed to build thousands of new homes over the next 20 years.
Councillors have worked together to draft proposals for the £4 million reopening of the Andover-Ludgershall line, aimed at providing better transport links for local satellite developments.
The man behind a proposed project to connect Colne with Skipton - alongside a restored rail link - believes the creation of a route for cyclists and pedestrians is very realistic.
More than three decades of work to restore train services between Cheltenham and Broadway is a step closer after volunteers raised almost £500,000 in a month to lay the final mile of track.
A group campaigning for the disused railway between Aberystwyth and Carmarthen to be reinstated has flown its route to take aerial shots for a feasibility study.
The future of a disused railway at Latchford remains unclear, with plans for a residential and industrial development yet to be submitted to the local council.
Rural villages are benefiting from high-speed broadband connections after fibre optic cables were laid along the disused railway from High Peak Junction to Whaley Bridge.
Walkers can now enjoy a leisurely stroll across the Lincolnshire-Nottinghamshire border following a £400,000 restoration of Grade II* listed Torksey Viaduct.
A proposed housing development aimed at raising funds to bring trains back into Leek is set to be derailed after planning officers recommended refusal of the application.
Plans for a £28 million light rail system - taking passengers on a disused line into Dudley for the first time in 50 years - could be thrown into doubt if Britain comes out of the EU, according to transport bosses.
A major road into Liverpool will be closed for six months whilst the City Council carries out improvement work which includes replacing a disused railway bridge.
Property developer St Modwen, which owns the historic railway works at Wolverton, has sought permission to build a discount supermarket on a parcel of land on the south-eastern corner of the site.
Progress has been made with plans to create a Wharfedale Greenway along sections of disused railway after two Councils agreed to make their land available to the project.
Plans are emerging for the restoration of the railway path between Keswick and Threlkeld where two Thomas Bouch bridges were washed away and another badly damaged during December's storms.
A call to reopen the disused railway from Witney to Oxford has been voiced ahead of a summit of West Oxfordshire leaders who will debate local transport links.
The historic Weymouth Tramway is to be put permanently out-of-use after councillors agreed that it was a danger to the public and constrained the town's development.
The Peak District National Park Authority has launched its first major fundraising campaign to help towards the cost of maintaining 34 miles of trails along former railways.
Campaigners are calling for the six miles of former railway between Stratford and Long Marston to be restored, linking it to the Cotswold line at Honeybourne to benefit local residents.
Calderdale community group Ryburn Valley Greenway has unveiled a feasibility study into the proposed traffic-free, off-road route for cyclists, walkers and horse riders along the old branch to Rishworth.
The old railway viaduct over the River Spey at Garmouth will be closed to walkers and cyclists as work to replace some of the structure's timbers gets underway.
The Rhondda Tunnel Society and Acer Ecologists have carried out the first of two bat surveys to gauge the extent of any wildlife that makes its home in the tunnel.
