FOUR little-used rural rail routes in Merseyside and Cheshire threatened with closure are being starved of funding, MPs will warn today.
A report by the Commons transport committee criticises plans to set up "community rail partnerships" ((CRPs) to develop money-spinning ideas to save the lines.
The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) is demanding a doubling of income and a halving of subsidy - and has insisted it is up to passengers themselves to find the solutions.
But the report warns of a "Catch 22", because extra services to boost income can only be provided with increased upfront funding to kickstart them.
It says: "Funding is short-term and uncertain. The government must ensure the partnerships have the money they need.
"It would be invidious to pass the responsibility for revitalising rural railways to local organisations without adequate powers and funding and then to blame them for the failure."
The four local lines earmarked for (CRPs) are:
* Chester to Manchester Piccadilly (Mickle Trafford Junction to Edgeley Junction section)
* Chester to Manchester via Warrington (Chester to Acton Grange Junction section)
* Helsby to Ellesmere Port
* Manchester Airport to Southport (Wigan Wallgate to Southport section)
In its strategy last November, the SRA said the key to boosting passenger use was better marketing - perhaps by holding music nights or weekend walks to raise the profile of the service.
A cap on fares would be lifted, to allow operators to offer special deals, perhaps linked to bus services.
Lower standards, for example for disabled access, would be allowed.
But today's report criticises what it describes as "veiled threats of closures" in the SRA's strategy, which said a CRP could be the "only opportunity" for survival..
Instead, it calls for local authorities and train operating companies to provide funding for rural rail lines, the latter through conditions of their franchise.
The report criticises the high cost of leasing old trains for community railways, calling for cheaper carriages building on light rail technology.
It says an end to deregulation of buses in rural areas should be considered - to end the "absurd" situation of subsidised bus and train services competing against each other.
Transport Secretary Alistair Darling has also made clear the threat of closure is real.
He said: "We can't be in the business of carting fresh air around the country."
That has raised fears of a clear-out similar to the infamous Beeching cuts of the 1960s, which saw hundreds of branch lines ripped up and 2,000 stations closed.
