a light rail or busway solution would be quicker to implement and offer higher service frequencies, while still providing sufficient capacity, and concludes that these alternative modes would offer a stronger "business case" than heavy rail. The ABFLY campaign group has criticised the busway proposal, citing environmental concerns about replacing an electric train service with a diesel bus service and rejecting plans to replace the tracks with a concrete busway. Other proposals considered included adding the Abbey line as a branch of the proposed extension of Crossrail to ; this proposal was rejected due to the technical challenges associated with upgrading the Abbey line to accommodate Crossrail trains. Passing loop In May 2020, it was announced that £50,000 of funding from the government's Restoring Your Railway Fund would be available to enable transport planners to develop a business case around the Bricket Wood passing loop proposal. If approved, this scheme would have enabled an increase in train frequencies, as well as the introduction of a regular "clockface" timetable. In June 2022 it was announced that further funding had been refused and the passing loop scheme would not be taken forward. Rolling stock Upon winning the West Midlands franchise in 2017, the future operator West Midlands Trains confirmed that new trains would be bought for the Abbey line. See also Hatfield and St Albans Railway Nickey line References External links Abbey Flyer User Group The Abbey Line Community Rail Partnership (CRP) Rail transport in Hertfordshire Community railway lines in England Transport in St Albans Transport in Watford Railway lines in the East of England Abandoned light rail projects in the United Kingdom Railway branch lines