On this day in 1987, 37 years ago, the last scheduled train passed over Farnley Viaduct, the tight curvature rendering it unsuitable for the overhead electrification equipment being installed between King's Cross and Leeds.
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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.
Cyclists and walkers could benefit from proposals to resurface the old Lias Line and create new traffic-free routes between Rugby, Leamington and Long Itchington.
A grass verge in Finedon has subsided, 44 years after it first did so, revealing an old tunnel associated with a narrow-gauge railway used to transport iron ore.
An extra 24 miles of cycling and walking routes will be built across Greater Manchester - as well as improvements to existing routes involving disused railways - thanks to £16M of government funding.
South Somerset District Council is to invest up to £20,000 in a feasibility study to see whether the former Somerset & Dorset Railway can be reopened for walkers and cyclists.
Campaigners hoping to reopen Queensbury Tunnel as a cycle route have unveiled plans for a memorial to the ten men killed during construction so passers-by can reflect on their enormous sacrifice.
Exactly five years after Storm Desmond hit Cumbria and destroyed the Keswick-Threlkeld Railway Trail, the new and improved route has opened for the local community and visitors to enjoy.
A new woodland walk and cycle path along a former freight railway loop line in Coventry is to be ready for the City of Culture celebrations in May 2021.
Campaigners fighting to save the historic Queensbury Tunnel from abandonment have hit out over the rising cost of works to shore up a shaft in the 1.4-mile long structure.
The Government has revealed the latest batch of 15 stations and railways to receive up to £50,000 each to progress feasibility studies into their reinstatement.
Plans to build a cycle path on a disused railway between Usk and Little Mill have been backed by Council officials despite concerns over its impact on an ancient woodland.
The Wey & Arun Canal Trust has submitted planning applications to create 1,000 yards of new canal between Shalford and Bramley along a section of the Downs Link path which occupies the trackbed of the former Guildford-Horsham railway.
Welsh ministers have been urged to back the reopening of the line between Bangor and Afonwen, as a strategic link between the north Wales main line and Cambrian Line.
The restoration of a disused railway swing bridge in Oxford is about to get underway after almost £1M was raised by conservationists, allowing the structure to be removed from Historic England's 'Heritage at Risk' Register.
Councillors have given their backing for a study into the reopening of the railway between Witney and Oxford as part of a plan to solve traffic problems on the A40.
The leader of Dudley Council has hailed a 'pivotal and exciting moment' in the borough's future with construction work to develop the Very Light Rail National Innovation Centre getting underway alongside a test track occupying a 2km section of disused line.
An Inverclyde councillor is progressing a campaign to resurrect the old railway from Kilmacolm to Paisley as part of plans to improve public transport across the Gryffe valley.
The 7km Swinton Greenway - which connects Monton Road to Manchester Road via a disused railway - will become an entirely traffic-free route as part of a multi-million pound upgrade.
The disused Colinton Tunnel has been brightened by a mural depicting Robert Louis Stevenson's poem 'A view from a railway carriage' and locals hope it will put the village on the map as a visitor attraction.
Plans for a new walking and cycling link from Denny to Falkirk along a disused railway have taken a step forward with the award of £454,000 in funding for design work.
Ilkley Town Council has asked Sustrans to prepare a quotation for design and feasibility work for a new cycle route connecting Burley with Otley and Ilkley, partly using a disused railway.
A project to turn the disused Catesby Tunnel into a state-of-the-art vehicle testing facility is moving through the gears with opening anticipated next spring.
Plans for a cycle path connecting Kilbirnie, Dalry and Kilwinning via a disused railway embankment have moved closer after it was agreed to put the proposal to council officers.
Exactly two years after contractors began work on the abandonment of Queensbury Tunnel, preparatory works have not yet been completed and costs have almost tripled, say campaigners.
Gedling Borough Council is hoping to transform a disused railway into a cycling and walking path, with the possibility also of a tram route being incorporated.
A contract has been awarded for the building of a national innovation and test centre for very light rail vehicles, including a 2km test track along a disused railway in Dudley.
An international competition has been announced to convert a 1,200-yard section of disused railway into a £35M raised linear park connecting Camden Town with King's Cross.
Nearly 5,000 people have signed a petition against the reopening of the former Midland Main Line through the Peak District as it would result in closure of the well-used Monsal Trail.
A disused railway bridge on the former South Staffordshire Railway line has been demolished to make way for a Metro extension to Dudley and Brierley Hill in the West Midlands.
A section of disused railway would be transformed into a 'green travel corridor and linear park' as part of ambitious plans to reinvigorate central Birkenhead.
Highways England has begun work to infill a section of Queensbury Tunnel below a ventilation shaft despite receiving £500K to conduct a study into its reopening as a greenway.
A 2-mile cycling and walking route will be constructed through Tidenham Tunnel in Gloucestershire after the Forest of Dean District Council unanimously granted planning permission for the scheme.
The Northern Viaduct Trust is looking for public support to help fund the installation of new handrails on Smardale Gill Viaduct which has been closed since last year due to safety concerns.
The prospect of Queensbury Tunnel being turned into a greenway connecting Bradford and Halifax look brighter after the Government agreed to pay for a business case into its possible redevelopment.
The Hawes branch of the Upper Wensleydale Railway was a surprising inclusion on the government's list of 50 rail schemes that could receive the next round of 'reverse Beeching' funding.
A disused Carmarthenshire mineral railway should be turned into a cycle track according to more than 1,000 people who have signed a supporting petition.
A proposal submitted to the Department for Transport advocates an extension of Manchester's tram network from Bury to Bolton and seeks funds to draw up a business case for the route.
A group of enthusiasts will seek funding to reopen an old station as the terminus of a heritage line on the former Hull and Barnsley Railway near Wakefield.
The leader of Bradford Council has criticised a 'derisory' Government funding offer for a greenway connecting the city to Calderdale which wouldn't even pay for the repair of Queensbury Tunnel, the key connector on the route.
The cost of preparatory works for the proposed abandonment of Queensbury Tunnel has passed the £4 million mark, more than seven times the original estimate.
The 92-yard long 'Big' Tunnel, which was constructed to accommodate the Penrith-Keswick line, has been exhumed as part of a project to reinstate a railway path damaged by Storm Desmond in 2015.
A campaign group has expressed disappointment after its proposed reopening of the Stratford-Honeybourne line was not included in the first round of supported projects in a government scheme to reverse some Beeching cuts.
A West Midlands councillor has called for an improved cycle network for the region to encourage people to get fit and active, involving the conversion of some disused railways.
The reintroduction of a passenger service between Consett and Newcastle has to be a top priority according to Richard Holden, the local MP, who is leading a campaign to reinstate the line.
Proposals to make part of the old Bury-Bolton railway into a bridleway have been given the green light as part of a £650,000 funding package from the government's Growth Deal.
Department for Transport officials have moved the project to reinstate the Colne-Skipton railway from 'decision to initiate' to the 'develop' stage of the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline.
Tender documents for a 10-year framework deal to undertake inspection work for Highway England's Historical Railway Estate have been published, valuing the work at £30 million.
Campaigners fighting to save Queensbury Tunnel from closure have claimed that 'non-essential' work is underway at the site despite the Government-mandated lockdown.
Plans to demolish the old railway bridge over Green Lane - between Redditch and Studley - to build two new homes have been withdrawn by Redditch Borough Council.
Overgrown railway sidings are to be turned into a cycle and walking path to complete a four-kilometre leisure link between Preston and Grimsargh village.
Lancashire residÂents could be on track for better rail connections thanks to a cross-party group of MPs campaigning for reinstatement of the Burscough curves.
The fabulous station building at Bakewell, which welcomed its last train in 1968 and is currently used as an office, has just gone on the market with a guide price of £320,000.
Planners have rejected an application from Redditch Borough Council for the demolition of a disused Victorian railway bridge and levelling of an embankment to make way for two new houses.
A section of former railway, which many people use to walk along the Wye Valley near Penallt, has had to be closed after Storm Dennis caused a cutting slope to slip, blocking the route.
Cromdale Station, which opened in 1863 as part of the Strathspey Railway, has been put up for sale 52 years after it was converted into a private house.
A Robert Stephenson-designed turntable - thought to date from 1837 - has been unearthed at Birmingham's former Curzon Street station which is set to be transformed for HS2.
MPs have joined campaigners in calling for a feasibility study into the possibility of reopening the line between Skelton Junction in Timperley and Glazebrook.
A first step has been taken in a bid to reinstate the line between York and Beverley with East Riding of Yorkshire Council voting in favour of applying for part of a £500 million government grant.
The Transport Secretary has thrown his weight behind the campaign to reopen Queensbury Tunnel and even suggested that it could be used for light rail rather than a walking and cycling route.
Campaigners seeking to reinstate the Uckfield-Lewes line have been given new hope following an application by MP Maria Caulfield for a share of a £500 million Department for Transport fund.
Councillors have ruled out making improvements to the cycle route through Kelmarsh Tunnel in Northamptonshire as it would be 'unwise and premature' due to the potential reopening of the railway.
A parish council has unanimously backed plans to investigate reopening the Waterside line for passengers to serve the 1,500 new homes planned for the former Fawley power station site.
Campaigners have condemned Highways England for spending almost £5,000 of taxpayers' money every week on a CCTV camera in the disused Queensbury Tunnel, taking the total bill to almost £100K since last October.
Dorset Council has revealed plans to tear up a section of Weymouth's disused 'harbourside tramway' to investigate how the tracks could be removed in future to improve safety.
A fresh call has been made to reopen a 'much-needed' railway in Renfrewshire, with think-tank Railfuture Scotland developing a map of required service improvements including a link through Elderslie, Bridge of Weir and Kilmacolm.
A programme of railway reopenings in Derbyshire - including the Peak District main line from Matlock to Buxton - is being studied by a local MP after she met with Transport Secretary Grant Shapps to discuss her proposals.
Denbighshire Council should apply for money to reinstate the line from Corwen to Denbigh according to its transport lead who believes the 60s closure was folly.
A new railway linking Aylesbury, Oxford, Milton Keynes and Bedford has finally been given the green light from the Government, including the reinstatement of a disused section of line.
Five miles of disused railway in the West Midlands have been reopened for walkers after a group of volunteers spent the last two years clearing the route.
Plans to reopen the line connecting Bere Alston to Tavistock have been given a boost after government launched a fund to help restore historic railway lines closed in the 1960s.
The reopening of the Dumfries-Stranraer rail link is one of a series of options being taken forward to try to improve transport in south-west Scotland.
Restoring direct rail services between Beverley and York should be considered under a new government fund aimed at bringing mothballed lines back into use.
Ambitious plans to reopen the railway between Kemble and Cirencester have taken a step closer to reality after a funding shortfall for a feasibility study was plugged by Cotswold District Council.
The disused line to Fleetwood could reopen after the government launched a £500 million fund to kickstart the restoration of railways closed more than 50 years ago.
A survey of the historic Mechanics' Institute in Swindon will be carried out over the next few weeks after council officials gained access, allowing stakeholders to decide what can be done with the building.
Work on the restoration of the Great Central's railway station in Leicester has almost been completed as part of its multi-million pound transformation to accommodate hotels, shops, flats and offices.
A section of disused railway which disappeared in 1985 could be reinstated as part of a review of the way the proposed HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail connect with each other in West Yorkshire.
A senior Leeds city councillor has reiterated calls to reopen some of district's lost railway stations to help combat climate change and get more people using public transport.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has made clear that he wants to find a 'viable way forward' for the proposal to reopen Queensbury Tunnel as a cycle path as the row over its future continues.
