YP Letters: Beeching did not end passenger service on line

Chris Moncrieff (The Yorkshire Post, August 29) must be older than his photograph would suggest if he recalls travelling on the last passenger train from Harrogate to Pateley Bridge.

That was on April 2, 1951, although the railway line remained open to goods traffic until 1964.

The end of passenger trains on this branch was not a result of the Beeching Report, which was published 1963, as there was a programme of station 
and branch closures long before that.

There should be no need to knock down houses at Starbeck or rebuild Knaresborough Viaduct, which was built to accommodate two tracks.

The single-track section starts east of Knaresborough tunnel and runs to York, with double track passing loops between Cattal and Hammerton and at Poppleton.

There should be no problem in replacing double track throughout the branch, if the will and the money are forthcoming, as the formation seems to be intact.

The service has always been well patronised whenever I have used it, despite the outdated rolling stock and the limitations of single line working.