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New Lines Built Between 1923 and the mid 1990s

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tbtc

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One of the regular criticisms of privatisation I see on here is the fact that there haven't been many new railways (by which people generally mean "there haven't been enough re-opened old railways" - even though the decisions on such long term infrastructure projects are obviously dependent upon the Government rather than something we'd expect TOCs to do).

It got me thinking of how many new lines were built between the commencement of the "big four" in January 1923 and the mid 1990s privatisation of British Rail.

There were a few examples of re-opened lines under BR (e.g. Mansfield), but I'm struggling to think of many brand new lines (a short bit of diversion around Penmanshiel/Grantshouse in the early 1970s and around Selby in the early 1980s being two examples I am familiar with, having grown up near the ECML), but how many lines did the "big four" and British Rail build in around seventy five years?
 
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edwin_m

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Selby Diversion
Calverton branch
Farnsfield-Ollerton (I think)
Probably some other colliery-related ones
Various fairly minor deviations on existing routes
HS1
There's a brand new branch line from Castle Donington area to the new freight terminal near East Midlands Airport
 

pdeaves

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Tiny little bit just south of Cwmbach (penultimate station on the Aberdare line) to link two previously unconnected branches to make a new one.
 

MarlowDonkey

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I believe the Southern consolidated the competing lines running to Ramsgate and Margate into a single loop in the mid 1920s.

Also the Southern, London Transport and its earlier constituent Companies were active in opening new lines in the London area to service housing developments.
 

Ianno87

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Manchester Airport (1993) and Stansted Airport (1991) branches.

Holmes Chord (1987)
Swinton Chord
Hazel Grove Chord (if that counts as a 'line')
 

pdeaves

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Alterations Lydd to New Romney line in 1937 (it was diverted via a longer route with new stations at Lydd on Sea and Greatstone on Sea).

Various wartime connections/chords.
 

krus_aragon

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Tiny little bit just south of Cwmbach (penultimate station on the Aberdare line) to link two previously unconnected branches to make a new one.
One could similarly describe the linking of the LNWR and GWR branches in Blaenau Ffestiniog.
 

pdeaves

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Stewarts Lane viaduct (to get Eurostars to/from Waterloo).
Stretching it a bit, the Thameslink route north of Blackfriars through City Thameslink once Holborn Viaduct station closed.
A route avoiding a tunnel somewhere near Stoke on Trent (was that Harecastle? - I cannot remember at this instant).
 

d9009alycidon

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Although the Argyle Line through Central Low Level is a reopened line, the section between Exhibition Centre and Kelvinhaugh Junction is brand new from the 1970s. There were an couple of spurs built in the 1960s to allow closure of some stretches of line, the only one still in use is at Bowling where a new spur was put in to allow the Electric Services to access Dumbarton East.
 

d9009alycidon

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Do Marshalling Yards count, some like Carlisle had goods lines that would be the legth of a short branchline, Millerhill included new connecting lines to the ECML.
Just thought of one other Scottish one, Hunterston High Level down to the port
 

341o2

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The grandly named North Devon & Cornwall Junction light railway, over the trackbed of a ng clay railway as far as Meeth, then to Halwill mid 1920's
 

Calthrop

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A renowned doubtful-as-to-worthwhileness line in North Devon: Torrington to Halwill Junction, opened by the Southern Railway in 1925 -- its northern parts, replacing and on the route of a 3ft. gauge industrial line serving clay workings. For passenger traffic at least, Torrington -- Halwill was basically hopeless from the start. Passenger service withdrawn 1965: freight at line's northern end -- variously clay, and milk -- continued till the early 1980s.

(Almost simultaneous posting -- @341o2, you beat me by a whisker !)
 

341o2

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The ND&CJLR was constructed to try and improve communications and therefore the economy of the area
 

NoMorePacers

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The Anlaby Road chord in 1965. Receives almost no usage nowadays mind (and can't be accessed at the minute thanks to the points being broken and locked at West Parade North Junction - been like that since November).
 

LNW-GW Joint

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Ah, that's a major omission from my list (given how busy/useful it is) - good shout!

BR built a new Harecastle tunnel (Kidsgrove) on a 2-mile diversion of the North Staffs line.
Various wartime connections between "foreign" lines - eg Claydon LNE Jn between LMS and LNER at Calvert, and a connection at Mickle Trafford (LMS/CLC).
BR rebuilt a connection from the West London line toward Waterloo so Eurostar trains could reach North Pole depot (also rebuilt), plus the Battersea curve, also for Eurostar.
BR also built several connections to allow the closure of duplicated termini - eg Manchester Central and Liverpool Central.
One other example is at Wolverhampton where a new connection* was put in to the GW Shrewsbury line to allow the closure of routes via Wolves Low Level.

* actually reinstating the first connection (1852) between LNWR and S&BR (later GWR) which had been disused for years.
 

Sprinter107

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  • Manchester Airport
  • Stansted Airport
  • Hazel Grove Chord
  • Graham Road Curve
  • Holmes Chord
  • Selby Diversion
  • Windsor Link
  • Link between Nottingham to Lincoln Line to Lincoln Central
  • Mersey Loop
  • Moorfields to Skelmersdale
When did Skelmersdale rejoin the network ?
 

Bald Rick

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Some chords around Lincoln so that St Marks could close.

Finsbury Park High Level to Drayton Park (stretching it, but it was new!)

The definitive answer will be found by looking at the annual British Railways bill that BR submitted to Parliament to build all the new bits of railway it needed (or thought it did). Not all got built, of course.
 

Bevan Price

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New link into Pilkington Glass factory, St. Helens (Built 1990s, replaced original Ravenhead branch when new Linkway road was built.)
 

martinsh

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A route avoiding a tunnel somewhere near Stoke on Trent (was that Harecastle? - I cannot remember at this instant).
Well, yes and no !

A route avoiding Harecastle tunell was built when the line was electrified in the 1960s. However, there was also the Cheadle branch which had a deviation constructed to avoid a collapsed tunnel in the 1930s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheadle_branch_line

Not mentioned so far is the Wombourne branch (Tettenhall to Himley) which opened in 1925 - and closed to passengers in 1932 !
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wombourne_branch_line
 
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