Rail campaigners have welcomed a national study which suggests re-opening train lines - including one across Oxfordshire.

The report, funded by the Rail Passengers' Council, argues that re-opening lines axed in the 1960s would help cut traffic congestion.

One proposed scheme is re-opening the route from Felixstowe to Oxford, Swindon and the West Country.

This would restore lines between Milton Keynes/Bletchley and Bicester, Milton Keynes/Bletchley and Aylesbury and introduce connections from Cambridge to Milton Keynes.

The report claims rail usage has grown by 25 per cent between 1996 and 2000, and is now at its highest level for 55 years.

Stewart Francis, chairman of the Rail Passengers' Council, said: "No-one is suggesting that all the lines and stations closed by Dr Beeching should be restored, but there is a strong case for accelerating a targeted programme of selected schemes.

"At a time when the public is deeply sceptical about the future of the railways, there can be no greater symbol for a wider rail revival than putting back the tracks to those towns for which there are viable and cost-effective proposals."

The report for the Rail Passengers' Council comes just weeks after the Strategic Rail Authority put the Milton Keynes/Bletchley to Oxford route on the back burner, claiming the project was premature.

Chris Wright, of the Oxon and Bucks Rail Action committee, said: "We were delighted to read of the council's hope that some of the rail lines closed after Beeching should re-open. This will need major change in Labour practice rather than spin policies."

Mr Wright said plans by 30 councils to re-open the section between Oxford and Milton Keynes/Bletchley had been rebuffed, after five years of planning and £1.5m worth of studies, as uneconomic and lacking resources.

He added: "Road schemes continue to be approved. The Tories helped re-open more rail links than Labour and costs after Tory privatisation have more than trebled. The Government will need to encourage rather than deter.