There's yet anothe consultation under way at present concering  the mechanism through which stations might be closed in the future.

It's proposed that if a railway company wants to close a station it has to apply to the office of the Rail Regulator and make a cost / benefit case.   If the figure is 1.5 or greater then closure will not be allowed, and if the figure is less that 1.5 then it will be referred back to the operating company for them to decide.   Since they're the ones who will have asked in the first place ...

Some of the benefits measured WILL relate to faster journey times by train and hardship issues, but som eof the costs are incredible. Apparently, it will COST money to provide a train service because that will keep traffic on the roads lower, and so LOWER the amount of money  that the government makes ...

I wish I have time to look further into things / consultations like this; I'm painfully aware that this or others could come round and bight us in the bum ... "but you didn't object when" .... HowEVER .... I'm concentrating what's limited time on the more local specific line issue at the moment, with grateful help from other "group"s and some given to them where I can.