A daily diesel service could run on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway if enough commuters will swap their cars for trains.

As part of its strategy on traffic, Oxenhope Parish Council is surveying people in the area to see if they'd make the switch to rail.

Parish council chairman, Derek Allen, said: "We will be asking people, especially those who use the main line railway to get to Leeds and Bradford whether they would be prepared to use the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway to reach Keighley.

"We understand the problems because the railway is run by volunteers and would need to run on weekdays throughout the year."

Keighley & Worth Valley Railway's Roger France said developing a weekday commuter service would be very costly and would need a financial subsidy. It would also have to be a diesel and not a steam service.

"There are two important issues. The first is if there are enough potential commuters in the Worth Valley who are prepared to leave their cars and use the railway," he said. "The second is a technical and a staffing one.

"At present we run on a light railway order which restrict us to 25mph.

"If we wanted to run faster we would need to present a new 'safety-case' and that is horrendously expensive - and we would need more staff.

"My personal opinion is that inevitably we will be approached - at some point in the future - to run a service like this and we need to be ready for it."