Taken from the evening post website avon valley railway plans to extend to newbridge :
ú1M PLAN TO REBUILD RAIL LINK
10:40 - 11 January 2007
A Lost rail link between Bristol and Bath could be revived under ú1 million plans to double the size of the Avon Valley Railway.
The volunteer-run organisation wants to add a further three miles of track extending its line from its present terminus near Saltford to Newbridge, at the western edge of Bath.
The plan would cost in excess of ú1 million and could take up to 15 years to come to fruition.
Track and sleepers would have to be relaid across two bridges along the route of the former Midland Line railway, which closed in 1966.
The line once linked Bristol and Bath, running from St Philip's station in Bristol to Green Park station in Bath, and although subsequent development means the entire route cannot be revived the expansion plan would mean the railway would link the outer edge of each city.
At present the Avon Valley Railway runs over a distance of less than three miles between Oldland Common and the Avon Riverside station near the Avon Valley Country Park, with services starting and finishing at the railway's Bitton base.
Extending the line another three miles to Newbridge, close to the Bath Park and Ride car park, would require a brand new station to be built.
And any reinstatement of the lost line would have to accommodate the Bristol to Bath cycle track, which now runs along the route. Elsewhere along the course of the existing railway the cycle track is fenced off from the line.
A planning application to place sleepers and tracks on the rail route is expected to be sent to Bath & North East Somerset Council this year.
Avon Valley Railway development coordinator David Cole, pictured, said: "We are extremely excited about this plan. We have had an excellent year here with a record number of visitors and this plan would help us expand even further.
"Obviously a lot of it depends on whether the local authority is in favour of it. It also depends on whether we can raise sufficient funding.
"At the moment most of our funding comes from profits that the railways themselves generate. But for a project of this size we would need some additional funding. So we may have to look at other sources of money, such as the National Lottery."
The Avon Riverside station opened in 2004 after a 400-yard track extension was built.
The extension of the line from Bitton to the middle of the Avon Valley allowed tourists to catch pleasure boat trips and stop at a picnic area.
The company runs six steam engines, maintained by volunteers and donations.
For information log on to www.avonvalleyrailway.org or call 932 5538.