Two minutes down the road from our Ashby-de-la-Zouch office is the town’s railway station.
Closed since 1964, it is one of thousands of stations to close around the country in line with the recommendations of the then chairman of British Rail Dr Beeching.
When asked what they’d like to see in the town, reopening the Leicester to Burton line is usually top of the list alongside calls for less takeaways on the high street and free parking for shoppers.
But Ashby can’t be the only town still reeling from being cut off from the network, so What impact has Beeching’s cuts had on your town?Â
Use our contact section to let us know how Beeching forever changed your area.
Opening the line from Bedford to Northampton via Olney is a no brainer. Olney used to be, and still is, a nice old market town, but it has been blistered onto Milton Keynes in local government terms since the development of that metropolis. Reconnecting Olney to it’s traditional affiliations with Bedford and Northampton would be a breath of fresh air.
Once – as no doubt will happen – the East-West Rail is extended from Bedford to Cambridge (however the gap is bridged, it will happen some how), then to have the line via Olney open too would enable Cambridge and Stansted to West Midlands services via a shorter, quicker route than the current round about route via Oakham and Hinckley. That can then be more of a core freight route.