[Closed] who owns disused railway lines??

I thought that it was the councils... they usually end up eventually turning them into walking trails etc...

Network Rail

It depends when they came out of use

some of the borders and highland ones are now only faint marks in fields

Most of them are still owned by British Rail Residual except for the ones which have been donated to sustrans or local councils to rid them of the liabilities.

[url] http://www.brb.gov.uk/ [/url]

I think they make great links to rides all over the UK and my daughter has thrived since she started out riding the local lines.

We have one cutting across the bottom of the village - was talk of it being part of the Ilkeston-Derby sustrans route but that seems to have died a death....

grew up next to 'the track' runs between farnsfield and southwell... awesome

I know that alot of mountain bikers may find them a bit boring to ride on, but I think they can be quite atmospheric for some reason. I like the one running out of Keswick.

IIRC, Network Rail are one of the biggest landowners in the country, but it's all in long thin strips.

Well someone has just built a house across part of our local disused railway line, which is a shame because I always thought it would make a good cycle track.

I find it so frustrating that when looking at maps, there are so many disused railway lines that have potential for use. As it is, they just become overgrown. So sad to think that they were once used to link up places and communities, now they could still be used by people and cycles.

Of course, if I wanted to be really controversial, I could suggest that the trains use them again ...

We have loads of old lines here in South Wales. And a forward thinking local council. When Sustrans got together with Carmarthenshire to sort the route up the Amman Valley the obvious answer was to use the trackbed of the long disused railway. But the other side of the river has far better views, so they used that instead, allowing (ten years or so later) the track to be brought back into action to remove several million tons of anthracite from the last? mine in the valley. The now renovated railway will become the Amman Valley Railway Society's steam loco's home. About 300m away from where I sit 🙂

[url= http://ammanvalleyrail.netfirms.com/ ]Amman Valley Railway Society[/url]

My favorit4e is the one that runs south of york. It has a scale model of the solar system down its 20 (??) mile length from an 15 ft sun to a Neptune the size of a pea 20 miles away.

The one that goes from the west end of glasgow is a great link to loch lomond.

TandemJeremy - Member

My favorit4e is the one that runs south of york. It has a scale model of the solar system down its 20 (??) mile length from an 15 ft sun to a Neptune the size of a pea 20 miles away.

That sounds cool. I'd like to see that

odannyboy - Member

and why dont they get blldozed into the surrounding fields or built on?
its good for us but why do they sit unused for so long when land is so valuable.who owns them?council, railway company?

It's annoying though when stupid things happen. I live in Marple: stockport is only 3 miles away, but to get to it by train, we have to go into Manchester and back out again as the line was closed under Beeching. It can't be re-opened either as a bloody great supermarket was built on it.

 

TJ- there is a similar Solar system model in the hils above Thonon Les Bains, close to Morzine.

Mattoutandabout has one running through his garden. Very cool!

that dr beeching had a lot to answer for,closing all those rail lines!!!we used to have a railway station in devizes,unfortunately,there is no way that could ever be used as a cycle route,as they demolished the bridges years ago!!!

Question. Why are there no potato chips in Wiltshie?

Answer- Cos there are no Devizes for Chippenham!

I'm off for my coat already, good night 😉

Beeching was set up as the hatchetman though...it wasn't entirely his doing but his name was on the report that caused all the chaos with the closing of the stations.

We have some disused lines round our way and they are not bad for linking better bits up...I'm starting to use them more now we have a trailer as it gets us out and about but not on the main roads.

IIRC, Network Rail are one of the biggest landowners in the country, but it's all in long thin strips.