‘READY-TO-GO’ plans to reopen a freight-only railway line to restore passenger services to neighbouring cities have been shelved after years of preparations - after discussions by transport bosses from Network Rail and the Department for Transport ruled out the return.
Royston - which had its own four-platform station from 1841 until its closure in 1968 - still has an operational line but it is only used for freight trains to deliver sand to the Ardagh Glass factory in nearby Monk Bretton.
At the moment the only station serving to the north of Barnsley is Darton, despite research being carried out several years ago by ex-councillor Malcolm Clements showing 3,500 people from the town commute into West Yorkshire, mainly to Leeds.
A funding bid was subsequently sent to the Department for Transport, which made cash available to communities through its Restore Your Railway Fund, to potentially reopen the line - and a village station - to commuters.
Early plans suggested it could reopen and open up the line’s capacity to cater for commuter trains to return, which had received backing from Barnsley North MP Dan Jarvis and Coun Caroline Makinson, who represents the Royston ward.
However, the council confirmed this week that the scheme’s funding bid was unsuccessful - and a later bid for cash was also not supported.
Coun James Higginbottom, cabinet spokesperson for environment and highways, described the decision as a ‘unfortunate’ but added that the feasibility study will be kept on hold until other opportunities arise.
“After the unsuccessful funding bids, an independent feasibility study was carried out to evaluate the scheme thanks to the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS),” he said.
“Its outcome was submitted to the Department for Transport and Network Rail, who evaluated the proposals and stated that they could not support the scheme or any further funding.
“Given that their support to progress any scheme is needed, we have had to take the decision not to progress with any further work on the reinstatement of the Royston railway line at this time.
“The campaign has taken considerable work to get to this stage and funding for the feasibility study, which we funded, had given us a good plan, ready to go.
“But unfortunately, at this moment in time, the investment required has not been made available to make it happen.
“We have received the consultancy report that lays out how we could reopen a rail station at Royston and get a passenger service back up and running, which we will keep until such a time things improve and we can make it a reality.
“Thank you once again to all that have shown us support for this campaign.”
There was a four-track line through Royston which provided villagers with a direct northbound link to Leeds and one southbound to Sheffield and beyond but route rationalisation - known as the Beeching Axe, after the cuts of the then chairman of the British Railways Board Dr Richard Beeching - saw routes being severed in the 1960s which ultimately led to the station’s closure.
Coun Makinson added: “I would like to thank those in Royston who supported the campaign for reopening the rail scheme.
“We have held a local community meeting with all the campaigners that have been actively involved to give them the latest feedback.
“They agreed at this moment in time we have done as much as we can.
“The wider public in Royston have been supportive of our campaign and we want to thank all that have been involved.”
