What a shame that it takes the prospect of massive climate change to prompt a closer look at re-opening disused rail lines.

Some are slowly being brought back into use, sometimes in innovative ways – for example, old heavy rail lines in Manchester being brought back to life as light rail tram tracks as part of the Metrolink extension.

Other feasibility studies are being conducted elsewhere, often at the request of enthusiastic members of the business community and those with regeneration on the mind and money to spend at local authorities and the devolved governments.

But Network Rail’s report this week into coping with long-term climate change, suggesting that a domestic tourism boom could mean more disused lines re-opening, for once offers a proactive rather than piecemeal attitude to such projects.

The government wants to keep investing in transport infrastructure as a long-time driver of growth, and these projects create engineering and construction jobs in the short and long term, benefit passengers and businesses and will, oh-so-slowly, make rail once again a real competitor to road in some neglected parts of the country.