Selling land for railway.

Daddy Pig

Member
Location
dorset
A local group near here want to reinstate approx. 10 miles of disused rail line that was closed in the sixties their problem is that the old line has been taken back by the farms it crossed. The old corridor is still there and used by walkers cyclists and horse riders, their plan is for a much wider corridor with a rail line and cycle path and trees and pretty flowers. My question is if this was your land would you consider selling or leasing land for this purpose and more importantly what sort of value would you put on it ?
 

PuG

Member
A local group near here want to reinstate approx. 10 miles of disused rail line that was closed in the sixties their problem is that the old line has been taken back by the farms it crossed. The old corridor is still there and used by walkers cyclists and horse riders, their plan is for a much wider corridor with a rail line and cycle path and trees and pretty flowers. My question is if this was your land would you consider selling or leasing land for this purpose and more importantly what sort of value would you put on it ?

All depends on the individual bit of land in question, whether its just some thickets and scrub or a decent bit of field. Not to mention noise pollution from the train which some might be opposed. Better option is get rid of the walkers horse riders and cyclists.
 

Sir loin

Member
Location
North Yorkshire
The Wensleydale railway comes past our land and they have struggled to make it viable, many a time the train goes past with no one on it and thats without having to buy land. I was told it costs a million pounds a mile to reinstate the track to be useable this was from Redmire up to Hawes but there are a few bridges to put back in. So I wouldn't think they will want to spend a lot unless you are a very touristy spot which I suppose we are here.
 

Goweresque

Member
Location
North Wilts
Always amazes me the the government sold it in the first place.

Did they sell it? Or did it revert to the ownership of the landowners on either side of the line? Canals were established by Act of Parliament (as railways were also, later on), and required a formal Abandonment Act to close them, after which the canal reverted to the ownership of the landowners on either side of the canal. If you owned both sides you got it all, if you had one side you got up to the middle point. So I wonder if railways were the same, and thats how landowners ended up owning the track of closed railways through their fields.
 

pgk

Member
Did they sell it? Or did it revert to the ownership of the landowners on either side of the line? Canals were established by Act of Parliament (as railways were also, later on), and required a formal Abandonment Act to close them, after which the canal reverted to the ownership of the landowners on either side of the canal. If you owned both sides you got it all, if you had one side you got up to the middle point. So I wonder if railways were the same, and thats how landowners ended up owning the track of closed railways through their fields.
Father in law and his neighbours were offered the track beds passing through their land following the Beeching cuts. Had to pay a small fee and legals for the transfer.
 

Goweresque

Member
Location
North Wilts
Father in law and his neighbours were offered the track beds passing through their land following the Beeching cuts. Had to pay a small fee and legals for the transfer.

Ah, that makes sense. The most obvious person to offer the track to is the landowner next door I guess. And the government definitely did not want to sell the track as a whole, because a private company might have re-opened it and if they'd made a success of it that would make British Rail look stupid, which would never do. I'm convinced the decision to split the track ownership up as much as possible was taken precisely to make sure the lines were never re-opened.
 

Bogweevil

Member
A local group near here want to reinstate approx. 10 miles of disused rail line that was closed in the sixties their problem is that the old line has been taken back by the farms it crossed. The old corridor is still there and used by walkers cyclists and horse riders, their plan is for a much wider corridor with a rail line and cycle path and trees and pretty flowers. My question is if this was your land would you consider selling or leasing land for this purpose and more importantly what sort of value would you put on it ?

Sell it quick, they will only re-nationalise it for the new solar trains that will replace cars after 2030
 

Daddy Pig

Member
Location
dorset
The Wensleydale railway comes past our land and they have struggled to make it viable, many a time the train goes past with no one on it and thats without having to buy land. I was told it costs a million pounds a mile to reinstate the track to be useable this was from Redmire up to Hawes but there are a few bridges to put back in. So I wouldn't think they will want to spend a lot unless you are a very touristy spot which I suppose we are here.
They are talking of spending £100 million , they have to somehow get through local town where the old line is now either a road or has been built on.
 

Hampton

Member
BASIS
Location
Shropshire
The problem is if that old line goes through your farm it effectively then splits your farm up. You will then need crossings, permission to cross, a million years of fighting to try and get an underpass for quad and livestock etc etc
You’ll get told off for leaving the gates open whilst you’re trying to cart corn off the field.
If it’s dry and they use cheap coal then they will set fire to your crops, then claim it wasn’t them.
It’s a pain in the backside.
 

pgk

Member
Other side of the closed line, now main track through farm, brother in law recently bought the land which was effectively an island bounded by closed line, gwr main line and river. Previous owners only access was over the gwr main line with permission required each time using phone provided. Feel much more comfortable moving stock now as we have built a track down from old line. The crossing is mainly used by walkers on their circular route from Daylesford. I think crossing a line running steam trains would be much less scary.
 

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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