Railways
Lost Railway Routes
On the morning of 31 December 1969, the last train ran along the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway from Bath Green Park to Bournemouth West, a 71-mile line that climbed over the Mendip Hills and required two locomotives for every train. By lunchtime the rails were already being lifted. The Somerset & Dorset was one of 8,000 km of British lines closed under the 1963 Beeching Report — the largest peacetime railway abandonment in history.
Some of those lines are now walking and cycling paths; some are quietly being reopened (the Welsh Cambrian Heart of Wales survived precisely by being too remote to bother closing); and some never made sense to begin with. This is a list of the most interesting.
Where the line has been preserved or reopened, we say so. Where it's gone, we say where to walk it.
Late afternoon light, looking east. Photo by our regional correspondent.
Why This Place Matters
The Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway — built 1862–1874 to carry coal from the Somerset Mendips to Bournemouth holidaymakers. Closed 1966. The northernmost section, the Combe Down Tunnel (1,829 m, the longest unventilated rail tunnel in Britain), is now an underground bike path on the Two Tunnels Greenway out of Bath.
The Trans-Caprivi Railway — German colonial-era ambition to link South-West Africa to Tanzania. Construction began 1909 from Lüderitz Bay, abandoned 1915 in WWI. Sections of rail are still visible in the dunes east of Aus.
The Salt Lake Cutoff (Lucin Cutoff, Utah) — a 1904 wooden trestle 12 miles across the Great Salt Lake, replaced 1959 by a rock causeway. The original timbers are still recoverable from beneath the lake.
A Short History
The Beeching Report of 1963, written by ICI executive Richard Beeching, identified 5,000 stations and 8,000 km of British track as economically unjustifiable. By 1970, 4,065 stations had been closed. The political fallout lasted decades.
The Trans-Iranian Railway, by contrast, almost wasn't built — Reza Shah financed it with a sugar and tea tax 1927–1938 instead of foreign loans. It still runs Bandar-e Imam to Tehran via 224 tunnels.
Sri Lanka's Yal Devi line to Jaffna was destroyed during the civil war 1990, the rails ripped up for bunker construction. The line reopened in 2014; the original colonial stations were rebuilt to 1905 specifications.
What You Will Actually See
Combe Down Tunnel, Bath (former S&DJR) — walkable/cyclable, 1.6 km, illuminated with an audio installation; access from Wellsway, Bath.
The Caprivi rails near Aus, Namibia — visible in the desert at km 14 east of Aus on the C13 road; combine with a visit to the wild horses of the Garub plains.
Trans-Iranian Railway — book the 'Trans-Iranian' tourist train Tehran → Bandar-e Imam (UNESCO route since 2021), 30+ hours, 224 tunnels.
The Heart of Wales Line (Shrewsbury → Swansea) — 121 miles, saved from Beeching, still running 4 services a day. The Knucklas Viaduct (13 arches with castellated parapets) is the photogenic highlight.
Yal Devi (Sri Lanka) — Colombo to Jaffna, 13 hours, the Indian Ocean visible from the carriage windows on the northwest leg.
The Settle–Carlisle Line (England) — saved from closure by readers' campaigns in 1989; the Ribblehead Viaduct (24 arches, 32 m high) is still the postcard image.
The Bernina Express (Tirano → St. Moritz) — UNESCO, still running, the Brusio Spiral Viaduct climbs a 360° loop.
Glasgow Central → Stranraer 'Port Road' — closed 1965, the bridge over the Big Water of Fleet still stands, walkable from Loch Skerrow.
The kind of detail you only notice on the second visit.
Interesting Facts
A few quick notes on lost railway routes before the section below.
These are the details our correspondents most often get asked about by readers planning a trip.
Practical Information
Trans-Iranian — visa via Iranian e-visa portal (apply 3 weeks ahead). Carriages are first-class compartment for 4, $80 one-way; book with iranrail.net.
Heart of Wales — the Heart of Wales Line Travellers' Association sells a £42 'Day Ranger' valid for hop-on/hop-off all day.
Yal Devi — the night train from Colombo Fort to Jaffna leaves 21:00; reserved first-class costs LKR 2,500 (~$8).
Bernina Express — book Tirano-side seats for the spiral viaduct view (CHF 70 + reservation).
Interesting Facts
- The Beeching Report closed 4,065 British stations and 8,000 km of track between 1963 and 1970, reducing the network to about 60% of its 1960 size.
- The Trans-Iranian Railway crosses 224 tunnels and 4,100 bridges between Tehran and Bandar-e Imam; UNESCO listed it in 2021.
- The Brusio Spiral Viaduct on the Bernina Express is 110 m long and climbs 20 m in a 360° loop, allowing trains to gain altitude in a confined valley.
- The Ribblehead Viaduct on the Settle–Carlisle line cost 100 lives during its 1869–1875 construction; the navvies' shantytown of Batty Wife Hole housed 2,000 workers.
- The Yal Devi line in Sri Lanka was rebuilt 2010–2014 using Indian government grant funding of $800 million.
Most travellers walk straight past this corner. Stop and look up.
How To Visit
Bath: National Rail to Bath Spa, then 20-min walk south to Wellsway tunnel entrance.
Lüderitz, Namibia: 4×4 hire in Windhoek (8h drive). The Garub plains are 100 km east of Lüderitz on the C13.
Iran: fly to Tehran (Imam Khomeini IKA), then Tehran Railway Station for the Trans-Iranian.
Heart of Wales: start at Shrewsbury or Llanelli; the full line takes 4h10.
Final Thoughts
Closed railways tell you what places used to be connected. The Somerset & Dorset tells you that Bath used to be a place coal got delivered to. The Trans-Caprivi tells you that Germany believed in 1910 that South-West Africa would join Tanganyika.
Of the surviving lines, the Heart of Wales is the one we'd take if we had a day. Of the lost ones, walk the S&DJR Combe Down Tunnel — it's the only railway tunnel in Britain you can cycle through without permission.
Take a paper timetable. Phone signal disappears on the best stretches.
If you read this article and noticed something we got wrong, please write to us. Reader corrections shape what we publish next.
Henrik Voss
Regional correspondent for WIGO Trips. Writes about overlooked places and quiet histories.
