List of Beeching cuts service reopenings

Completed reopenings

London

• Snow Hill tunnel, south of Farringdon station, completely closed in the 1960s, was reopened for passengers in 1988 as part of Thameslink, providing a link between the Midland Main Line and the former Southern Railway via London Blackfriars station.

  South East

• The Chiltern Main Line was redoubled in two stages between 1998 and 2002, between Princes Risborough and Aynho Junction.
• The Romsey to Eastleigh link, closed to regular passenger services in 1969, reopened in 2003 along with the intermediate station at Chandler's Ford in Hampshire.
• Services on the London–Aylesbury line were extended north along the former Great Central Main Line to a new station called Aylesbury Vale Parkway, which opened in December 2008.
• The line from Oxford to Bicester reopened in 1987 after closing in 1968. As part of the East West Rail project, passenger services are to be restored to the section of line from Bicester to Bletchley.

  South West

• Stations reopened include closed in 1964 was reopened in 2024 as, Ashchurch,, Feniton, Pinhoe, Templecombe and Yate.
• Service between Swindon and Trowbridge ceased in 1966 but two passenger trains each way were reinstated in 1985, along with the reopening of Melksham station. Passenger numbers rose rapidly, and the service – now increased in frequency and known as the TransWilts Line – was extended to Westbury.
• Regular passenger services between Yeovil Junction and Yeovil Pen Mill were withdrawn in 1968; a limited service was reinstated in 2015.
• The passenger service between Exeter and Okehampton was originally withdrawn in 1972. A Summer Sunday service ran from 1997 to 2019, with a full daily service reinstated in 2021.

  East Anglia/Lincolnshire

• , closed in 1967, was reopened in 1971;, closed in 1965 was reopened in 2021; and Magdalen Road closed in 1968 and was reopened as in 1975.
• Peterborough–Lincoln line: the section between Peterborough and Spalding closed to passengers on 5 October 1970 and reopened on 7 June 1971.

  East Midlands

• The Robin Hood Line in Nottinghamshire, between Nottingham and Worksop via Mansfield, reopened in the early 1990s. Since closure in 1964 Mansfield had been the largest town in Britain without a rail link.
• Stations at, and between Leicester and Loughborough closed in 1968 reopened in 1994.
• The Kettering to Manton Jn Line via Corby closed to passengers on 18 April 1966. A shuttle service between Kettering and Corby was introduced in 1987, but the service was unreliable and lost funding support from the local council, leading to its closure in 1990. The line was then reopened on 23 February 2009 with Corby served by direct trains to London and a limited number of trains continuing on towards Oakham and Melton Mowbray.
• Alfreton, Langley Mill and Ilkeston stations on the Erewash Valley line closed in 1967 have since been reopened.
• , was closed in 1967 and reopened in 1972, was closed in 1968 but reopened two years later, was closed in 1968 and reopened 1976, was closed in 1966 and reopened in 1989, was closed in 1968 and reopened in 1994, was closed in 1968 and replaced with a new station in 1986 on an adjacent site.

  West Midlands

• Birmingham Snow Hill station, after closing in 1972, was rebuilt and reopened in 1987 along with Snow Hill tunnel underneath Birmingham city centre to. The section of the Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster line between Snow Hill to Smethwick was reopened in 1995.
• The line from Snow Hill to Wolverhampton mainly reopened as the West Midlands Metro tram system.
• The line from Coventry to Nuneaton reopened to passengers in 1988.
• The Coventry–Leamington line reopened to passengers in 1977, and the station at Kenilworth reopened on 30 April 2018.
• The passenger service between and, withdrawn in 1965, was reinstated in 1988.
• The Walsall–Hednesford line reopened to passengers in 1989, and was extended to Rugeley Town in 1997 and in 1998.
• Passenger services were reinstated between and Wolverhampton, but withdrawn in 2008 on cost and efficiency grounds. A service with reopenings of and stations is expected to be reintroduced by 2025.
• The Cotswold Line has been redoubled in places, and Honeybourne station reopened.
• Coleshill, closed in 1968, was rebuilt and reopened in 2007.

  North East/Yorkshire

• On the lines from Leeds/Bradford to Skipton the following stations, closed in 1965, have been reopened :,,, and.
• The line from Wakefield Kirkgate to Pontefract Monkhill, closed in 1967, was reopened in 1992 with and two new stations.
• , and were originally closed in 1967 but new stations were opened on adjacent sites., closed in 1964, was reopened in 2020 on a different site.
• Passenger service from Bradford to Huddersfield, withdrawn in 1970, was reinstated in 2000 with reopening of station. From 2017, trains also served which was originally closed in 1965.
• Other stations reopened are , and
• Line from to South Hylton, closed in 1964, was rebuilt and reopened in 2002 as part of the Tyne and Wear Metro.
• Passenger service from Castleford to York, withdrawn in 1970, was reinstated from December 2023.
• Passenger service from Newcastle to, withdrawn in 1964, was reinstated in December 2024.

  North West

• The Merseyrail line from to was closed in 1972 and mainly reopened in 1978.
• , closed in 1967, was reopened in 1981; and, closed in 1966, was rebuilt in 1988. Balshaw Lane and Euxton was closed in 1969 but was rebuilt and reopened as in 1997., closed in 1969, was rebuilt on an adjacent site in 1984.
• The route out of Manchester Central over the Cheshire Lines Committee's Manchester South District Line has been reopened by Metrolink. The line opened to St Werburgh's Road in July 2011 and was extended as far as East Didsbury in May 2013.
• On the Settle and Carlisle line, most of the intermediate stations were closed in 1970 but regular passenger services were restored in 1986 to the following stations:,,,,,, and.

  North and Mid Wales

• , closed in 1964, reopened in 1970; and closed in 1964 but reopened the following year.
• On the North Wales Coast Line the following stations closed in 1966 have been reopened: Shotton Low Level,, and
• , closed in 1965, was reopened on an adjacent site in 2021.

  South Wales

• 32 new stations and four lines reopened within 20 miles of each other: Abercynon–Aberdare, Barry–Bridgend via, Bridgend–Maesteg and the Ebbw Valley Railway via Newbridge.
• Stopping trains between Cardiff and Swansea, withdrawn in 1964, were re-introduced in 1992 serving reopened stations at, ,,,,, and.
• closed in 1964 and reopened in 1972, closed in 1965 and reopened in 1984 and, which closed for regular passenger services in 1964, reopened in 2012.

  Scotland

• Glasgow Central Railway between and was reopened in November 1979, establishing the Argyle Line connecting the Hamilton Circle to the North Clyde Line. Intermediate stations at,, Glasgow Central Low Level and were reopened, and a new station opened at.
• The Maryhill Line in Glasgow re-opened to stopping trains in 1993, which had ceased in the 1960s. It is a suburban railway line linking central Glasgow and Anniesland via Maryhill.
• The Argyle Line was extended in December 2005 when a four-mile section of the Mid Lanark Lines of the Caledonian Railway reopened, serving, and.
• The Glasgow and South Western Railway's Paisley Canal line was closed to passengers in 1983. The majority of the route reopened in 1990.
• The Caledonian Railway's Rutherglen and Coatbridge Railway closed to passengers in 1964. The majority of the route was reopened in 1993.
• Stirling to Alloa reopened on 19 May 2008, providing a passenger service to Alloa on the route of the former Stirling-Dunfermline main line after a 40-year gap. This line had not been marked for closure by Beeching. The restored line also provides for freight onwards to Kincardine, and ultimately to Dunfermline by the slower, single track coastal route. Coal traffic ceased in 2016 on the closure of Longannet power station.
• Other stations closed in the mid-1960s now re-opened, on lines which remained open, include,,,,,,,,,,,, and. Some stations have reopened on adjacent sites,,, and.
• A 35-mile stretch of the former Waverley Route between Edinburgh and via Galashiels reopened on 6 September 2015. The closure of the line in 1969 had left the Scottish Borders without any rail links.
• The passenger service between and withdrawn in 1969 was reinstated in 1989 as part of a new Fife Circle train service.
• The Levenmouth rail link in Fife, closed to passengers in 1969, was reopened in 2024.

  Heritage railways

Further proposals

• East West Rail, restoring passenger services between Bicester and Milton Keynes, expected to reopen in 2025. Future plans are to build a new railway between Bedford and Cambridge using part of the original alignment closed in 1968 and reopening of the line between Aylesbury Vale Parkway and Claydon Junction.
• Passenger service on the Portishead Railway stopped in 1964; plans are to reopen it from Bristol to Portishead, possibly in 2028. Freight services ceased in 1981 and resumed on part of the line in 2002.
• Camp Hill line, West Midlands, Birmingham New Street to Kings Norton: service planned to reopen in 2025.
• Stourbridge Junction to Walsall line: planned to open part as Midland Metro.
• Henbury Loop as a branch line from to, as part of the MetroWest project in the Bristol area, due to reopen in 2026
• Charfield station, South Gloucestershire, proposed to reopen in 2027.