A report from the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) has called for 14 new lines and up to 40 new stations to serve up to one million passengers.

In the report, Connecting Communities, ATOC calls for the routes involved to be safeguarded and for further detailed planning with Network Rail and local authorities to prioritise investment.

The rail links it wants to be considered for development over the next five to ten years would serve: Cranleigh (Surrey); Bordon, Hythe and Ringwood in Hampshire; Brixham in Devon; Aldridge and Brownhills (West Midlands); Wisbech (Cambridgeshire); Leicester to Burton (Derbyshire); Fleetwood, Rawtenstall and Skelmersdale in Lancashire; Washington (Tyne and Wear); and Ashington & Blyth (Northumberland).

In addition, the report identifies seven new park and ride stations that could be built on existing lines, providing services for people living in Rushden (Northamptonshire); Peterlee (County Durham); Kenilworth (Warwickshire); Ilkeston and Clay Cross (Derbyshire); Ossett (W Yorkshire); and Wantage (Oxfordshire).

Together, the new lines and stations would serve 40 towns with a population of three quarters of a million that are not currently connected to the network.

A further quarter of a million people in nearby towns and villages would also benefit from better rail access as a result.

Connecting Communities demonstrates an outline economic case for trains to return to a number of towns that were once served by rail, until the Beeching Report led to the closure of over half the network and almost two thirds of the stations.

Many remaining ‘railhead’ stations have limited capacity or poor road links, and the new lines would dramatically improve accessibility to the network for new rail passengers, the report claims.

“Record passenger numbers and rising demand require us to plan for the long term, while climate change and population growth make it vital that in doing so, we adapt the rail network to meet tomorrow’s needs,” explained ATOC chief executive Michael Roberts.

“Providing attractive new services and easier access to the rail network will encourage passengers to switch to rail from other, less green, modes of transport.

“Many past studies have looked at re-opening old railways but this one looks first at the market, not the map, analysing where people live and where they want to travel.”

Over the next nine months ATOC will carry out further analysis with train operators, Network Rail and local authorities to validate the work so far undertaken, and to confirm those routes that would justify safeguarding.

Safeguarding would then be taken forward by Network Rail in conjunction with local authorities and involvement of the Department for Transport, through the Route Utilisation Strategy process.

The timescale for development, coupled with the need to make provision for funding would mean that the schemes justified might be implemented from 2014.

The Connecting Communities report is available on www.atoc.org.