Proposed heritage railway in Dunstable

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Dunstable_Railway_Centre ยท South_Bedfordshire_Railway

http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Dunstable_Railway_Centre/

The group aims to promote and help to start the scheme for short length of heritage railway along part of the old Dunstable to Luton railway line as part of the Luton to Dunstable busway project. The group aims to enable participation in the project. The group aims to educate about history of the old railway line, about the subsequent re - use of the land after closure of the line and the controversy over the re - opening the part of the line from Luton to Dunstable to passengers after heavy freight trains ended in 1989, vs the Luton to Dunstable busway. The group has pictures, maps, written material and timetables on the group and links to external websites.

The web site http://www.freewebs.com/south_bedfordshire_railway/ is the web site of the scheme.

In 2001, Luton Borough Council responsible for promoting the bus way along the old railway indicated that the potential heritage value of the Luton to Dunstable railway line had been realised and if practicable a short length of line could be retained for heritage purposes.

I explored the possibilities with the council in the summer of 2001 and we came to the conclusion that a base on a dell hole of waste land (formerly oil depot sidings) to North of Dunstable Town centre and a short length of line along the old line towards Dunstable Park was possible.

Since the busway has gained approval. Because of development plans for the vacant land the proposed road access and depot has been moved to the pallet store nearby which has been earmarked for redevelopment in a recent outline planning application.

The idea would be to operate a 400 yard section of the old line from High Street North to South Apex railway triangle with a Diesel Multiple Unit, with loco haulage and steam haulage following later on. The land surrounding the old line is designated as open space in the bus way proposal so the railway would have a nice setting to operate within.

The proposed heritage railway places great emphasis on assisting economic regeneration of the surrounding area and the conurbation in general.

None of the deprived areas of Dunstable have any of the tourist attractions in the town. The proposed heritage railway would be located in one of the deprived areas in the North of Dunstable (Northfield ward). There are many closed premises and much derelict, vacant or recently cleared ex โ€“ industrial land nearby. I have deliberately designed the business plans for the proposed heritage railway to maximise the number of passengers who go on to use the local businesses nearby (along High Street North โ€“ Houghton Road - Tavistock Street โ€“ Brewers Hill Road), and to use the space released to maximise the potential for public education facilities at the proposed heritage railway and maximise the number of passengers who become curious enough to visit other attractions in Dunstable such as the town council's heritage centre at Priory House or Chilterns Gateway Centre. By attracting tourists, and boosting patronage of local fast food takeaways, shops and pubs, the proposed heritage railway will help to regenerate the deprived area in which it is situated.

The concept is that the railway will provide a railway museum and educational facilities to educate the public about the railway line, and an available shop, selling souvenir of relevance to the railway, but catering facilities provided at the site near to High Street North would not duplicate those already in the area. Instead passengers could visit local businesses, which would thence benefit from increased custom.

Although the task of retaining infrastructure from the disused Luton to Dunstable branch line as it is demolished will be for the Luton Borough Council bus way contractor in the first instance, the work of rebuilding a section of the original railway in to as accurate a representation of the original railway as practicable as a tourist attraction will depend on an extensive programme of public involvement (via volunteering opportunities, trainees from local FE colleges and by participants on DWFP and Employment Service schemes and participants in work schemes run by the probation and community service organisations). Such an extensive programme of public involvement would provide volunteering and training opportunities that would be unique among the other tourist attractions in the area in terms of scale, scope and the opportunities to learn and practise a wide variety of trades. This programme would provide training and volunteering opportunities that would be of great benefit to the people from more deprived areas of Luton Dunstable and greatly aid economic regeneration and recovery from the recession.

Latest news is that Luton Borough Council have told me that the Luton to Dunstable bus way project has finally gone out to tender, that a contractor will be appointed at end of 2009, and that all the undergrowth is to be cleared from the long disused Luton to Dunstable railway line and the track lifted from mid - 2010, then construction of the bus way will begin.

For the proposed railway to go ahead the funding must be raised by next year.

There are considerations such as land purchase, open space design and cost of retaining items from the disused railway as it is removed.

We are in an unusual position, in that the track along the Luton to Dunstable branch line was not lifted after closure in 1989 but was left in situ for over 20 years. Luton Borough Council will be responsible for removal of 20 years of undergrowth and the track once they have bought the land.

Due to the costs - of removal of the track and disposal of old wood sleepers and concrete sleepers, of removal of and disposal of the fence posts, of removal and disposal of the level crossing at Court Road, of demolition of bridges and of disposal of old bridge components - the cost implication of the retention of the track between High Street North and South Apex in situ, and for the retention and movement to storage of other track and civil engineering items; is of little intrinsic value - save for considerations such as haulage costs etc.

The plan that has been agreed with Luton Borough Council is for them to instruct their contractor to retain in situ the track between High Street North and South Apex, then to remove and move to storage at the pallet store land the items that it is agreed be retained. When the track is removed these would include the track needed to lay sidings at the depot area, replace points removed, re-sleeper the line and carry out any outstanding track renewals; and when the remianing infrastructure of the branch is demolished, to remove and move to storage the civil engineering items needed to provide fence posts to build fences, provide a footbridge at South Apex, a level crossing at Brewers Hill Road and a bridge over High Street North etc.

In the long term once A5 bypass is completed there could be possibilities for extension of the running line across Dunstable High Street North (currently A5) and Brewers Hill Road then beside the driveway along the old railway line leading to industrial premises, towards the Sewell Trail.