The government has pulled its support for reinstating the Bury to Rochdale railway line under the Restoring Your Railway Fund.
Transport secretary Mark Harper has informed local MPs that the application to restore the abandoned Bury-Heywood-Rochdale line will not progress further owing to “cost and wider capacity challenges”.
He added that “the scheme would be best considered as part of Greater Manchester’s City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement programme”.
The Restoring Your Railway Fund was announced in January 2020 as part of the levelling up agenda when the government pledged £500M to deliver on its manifesto commitment and start reopening lines and stations.
Proposals to restore the Bury to Rochdale line won £50,000 to put together a business case in the first round of funding awards. A line used to connect the two towns but was abandoned in the 1960s as part of the Beeching cuts, which saw lines with Restoring Your Railway funding decommissioned.
MP for Rochdale Tony Lloyd said: “The government’s announcement is a kick in the teeth for Rochdale and Greater Manchester.
“Tram and rail services from Rochdale to Manchester provide transport to the city centre but it doesn’t provide the kind of connections we need to get around the city region, and in particular, from Rochdale and Heywood to Bury.
“Whilst there are future plans for tram-train services between Oldham, Rochdale, Heywood and Bury, these are way down the line and Transport for Greater Manchester are still looking at ways on how to fund this which will only be made more difficult with the withdrawal of this support.
The Greater Manchester five-year delivery plan shows the Bury to Rochdale line to be a key consideration as the corridor highlighted is suitable for intervention. Transport for Greater Manchester is currently undertaking a tram-train pathfinder project, but currently funding only encompasses the pilot tram-train from Heywood to Oldham.
In October 2021, the Dartmoor line, connecting Okehampton to Exeter, became the first former line to open under the government’s Restoring Your Railway fund. It was the first of a number of schemes to revive abandoned routes, with then Network Rail chief executive Andrew Haines emphasising that restoring such lines is among key solutions to secure the future of the industry given the pandemic-driven decrease in commuting.
In the second round of funding, backers of 15 proposals were awarded cash to develop their business cases, while plans to reopen 13 abandoned railways and disused stations were accepted for development under the third round of the fund.
In June 2022, former rail minister Wendy Morton announced a further £15M in funding to develop nine more abandoned lines.
The nine latest schemes set to receive funding are:
Aldridge station and line upgrade in Walsall
The Barrow Hill Line between Sheffield and Chesterfield
The Ivanhoe Line between Leicester and Burton on Trent
Meir Station between Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire
Haxby Station on the York to Scarborough Line
Reinstating the Fleetwood Railway Line
Ferryhill Station in County Durham
The Mid Cornwall Metro, connecting Newquay, Truro and Falmouth
Devizes Station between Pewsey and Westbury in Wiltshire