An ambitious £2 million scheme to restore a missing rail link between Bolton Abbey and Skipton has moved a step forward.

Yorkshire Dales Railway Museum Trust, which revealed its plans last year, has commissioned transport experts JMP to look at the benefits of reinstating a service between the two communities.

If it reveals economic advantages, the trust will start applying for grants to expand the Embsay and Bolton Abbey line to Skipton.

Stephen Walker, business manager of the heritage railway which carries 100,000 passengers a year, said: “The earliest the line could be reopened would be a couple of years.”

The line was closed more than 40 years ago under Dr Beeching’s cutbacks, but a Network Rail feasibility study has concluded that just 20 yards of tracks are missing between Embsay and Skipton, which could be easily replaced.