Plea to preserve Spalding to March rail line

A national rail pressure group is pushing for a former South Holland railway line to be preserved from future development.

The English Regional Transport Association (ERTA) is calling for a recent planning application for housing to not be built over a railway track bed.

An application for 72 homes at Cowbit would obliterate the former Spalding to March corridor.

Having survived the Dr Beeching axe of the 1960s, the line finally shut for good in 1981.

But continued growth for the area has prompted ERTA to call for development to be tailored around, not over, track beds.

“This rail link with over 30 years of growth is needed now as never before with the benefits it would offer of commuting and employment from Cambridge and Stansted Airport; inward footfall and more passengers and freight de-cluttering local roads,” said a statement from ERTA.

“It is a strategic link and we can’t keep on as we are, with more housing and more cars on the roads,” said John Pill, of the Bedford-based organisation.

“It is part of a strategic regional corridor including Wisbech and March and should not be built over,” he added.

The association is in discussions with the local councils in a bid to prevent building over the former rail bed.

He said other councils in other parts of the country had preserved them as cycle paths, recreation areas and linear paths to retain the integrity of a future line.

“It is a positive thing, not a negative, to keep the line until the railway returns,” said Mr Pill.
ERTA is looking for local members to help campaign for line preservation and if anyone is interested, contact Mr Pill on 01234 330090 or see the website https://ertrarail.com for details.