A CONSULTATION exercise is under way to find out if there is public backing for the reinstatement of a rail link which closed more than 40 years ago.

Thousands of questionnaires are being distributed by consultants to people in the Ripon area of North Yorkshire to measure support for a 25-mile route from Harrogate, through Ripon, to Northallerton or Thirsk.

The exercise is backed by North Yorkshire County Council, the Countryside Agency and Ripon City Partnership and also involves Ripon Railway Reinstatement Association.

The last trains were axed by Transport Minister Dr Charles Beeching as part of nationwide cuts to the network in the 1960s.

In addition to 7,000 questionnaires for local residents, the consultants are interviewing people who visit Ripon on market days to see if they would switch from cars to rail.

Alan Beswick, director of Leeds consultants JMB, said: "There are no fixed views about where the railway would go. At the moment, we are finding out the views of people about use of the railway.

"A lot has changed in the 40 years since the railway was closed.

"There is more traffic congestion and much more commuting. The rationale for closure 40 years ago may no longer stack up."

The results of the survey should be known by spring.

A few years ago, the consultants costed reopening the line between Harrogate and Ripon at £20m.

It has been estimated that relaying the line could cost between £1m and £3m per mile.

The Mayor of Ripon, Councillor David Parnaby, said the city council had already set up a working group to look into the plans.

Although the specific route has not been earmarked, residents at Littlethorpe village, near Ripon, where some homes have been built on the old track, have already expressed their concern about the effect a new line would have on their community.