LONG-held ambitions of re-opening a railway link that disappeared as part of the Beeching cuts in the 1960s will move a step closer next month.

Talks on a preferred route for an 11-mile £40m-plus link between Harrogate and Ripon, in North Yorkshire, will take place at a meeting called by county council transport chiefs.

A study by consultants has already declared that a reopened rail line between the two would be viable.

The meeting, on February 9, will focus on findings for a route and site of a possible terminal in Ripon.

The original line, which had intermediate stations at Nidd Bridge and Wormald Green and links to Northallerton, was shut to passenger traffic by Dr Charles Beeching in 1967 as part of a nationwide axing of uneconomic railway lines.

Phase one of the study was started in 2004, considering the commercial aspects of reopening the line, including a service beyond Ripon to Northallerton and between Ripon and Thirsk.

But while consultants said the Harrogate to Ripon line would be a viable proposition, they discounted the idea of extending to Northallerton and Thirsk.

At the meeting in Harrogate International Centre, to be chaired by North Yorkshire transport chief Mike Moore, the engineering and environmental impact will be spelt out. Recommendations will be made for a preferred route and the terminal in Ripon.

Although the Nidd Gorge is still bridged, other bridges along the old route, including one at South Stainley, over the A61, and a viaduct leading to Ripon Station near North Bridge, have long since been demolished.

In addition, there has been development along the old line, notably at Littlethorpe and Wormald Green, south of Ripon.

Five potential sites for a new railway station in Ripon were highlighted last year in a 100-page document by the consultants.

One would be near Morrison's store on the opposite side of Ripon bypass, while two others are near the first roundabout beyond Morrison's, also on the southern side of the bypass.

Another site in the same area is on a potential flood plain, and a fifth is closer towards the old station, which was at Ure Bank, a mile from the city centre.