Been saying this for years and nobody listens. The old Severn Valley line near me has had three credible reports since 2019 and the location pattern is too consistent to be coincidence.
My working theory is that abandoned rail corridors act as natural movement channels - long, undisturbed, often overgrown, connecting large distances without human interference. If you were a large cryptid you'd use them too, wouldn't you.
The really interesting bit is whether the correlation is about the terrain itself or something older. A lot of those Victorian lines were cut through areas that had older trackways or droving routes underneath. Something to think about.
Anyone got specific lines they've flagged? Particularly interested in northern England reports if anyones got them.