Written question asked by Peter L Pike (Labour) on Thursday, 18 June 1998, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 24 June 1998. It was answered by Glenda Jackson (Labour) on Wednesday, 24 June 1998 on behalf of the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions.

Dept of the Environment Transport and the Regions

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, how many miles of closed railway tracks, in England are open as (a) footpaths, (b) cycle tracks, (c) bridleways; what estimate he has made of the number of miles of track which could be used for (a) to (c).

Answer: Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many miles of closed railway tracks, in England are open as (a) footpaths, (b) cycle tracks, (c) bridleways; what estimate he has made of the number of miles of track which could be used for (a) to (c); and if he will make a statement. [47203] Ms Glenda Jackson: Over the years, a substantial mileage of closed railway lines has been sold to local authorities, but details of use as footpaths, cyclepaths or bridleways are not available. 220 miles have recently been transferred to Sustrans for cyclepaths. Those sections of line still in BR ownership and not held for public transport schemes are short (about 70 miles split between more than 100 sites) and are unlikely to be of significant use for these purposes.

Secondary information