From: Nigel Boddy North East Exec Member of the Lib Dems, Greencroft Close, Darlington.

The private railway companies never linked the Settle Carlisle Railway Line with the Wear Valley Line. Is there an opportunity to do this now across 15 miles of open moorland somewhere North of Ribblehead?

If this was done, would there be another really useful rail link for freight from Carlisle to Darlington, without going via the East Coast Main Line or Newcastle upon Tyne?

Is it time the government stepped in to fund a feasibility study? Skipton people would then be able to access the East Coast main line at Darlington without going via Leeds and York.

The Flying Scotsman crossing the Ribblehead Viaduct in the shadow of Ingleborough, on its journey from Oxenhope to Carlisle to celebrate the re-opening of the Settle Carlisle Railway line in 2017. PIC: Bruce Rollinson

placeholder image — The Flying Scotsman crossing the Ribblehead Viaduct in the shadow of Ingleborough, on its journey from Oxenhope to Carlisle to celebrate the re-opening of the Settle Carlisle Railway line in 2017. PIC: Bruce Rollinson

Leeds is of course one of the most notorious bottlenecks in the entire rail network. Relaying the Waverley Line in the Scottish borders only cost £4m a mile. Would the costs of such a Skipton scheme, across open moorland, be equally modest?