HOPES of re-opening two railway stations have been given a boost with the inclusion of Henbury and the old Filton Halt in a planning blueprint for South Gloucestershire.

With thousands of homes set to be built on and around Filton airfield, bringing passenger services back onto the Hallen loop would be a major help in improving public transport.

South Gloucestershire Council said it was working with Network Rail and other interested parties on the proposal, which would be subject to a satisfactory business case being developed.

Those who have campaigned for years to use the line for passengers welcomed the approach.

Two-thirds of the airfield – due to be closed by owner BAE Systems at the end of 2012 – had been allocated for some 2,500 homes in the council's draft core strategy to help meet a larger level of new housing demanded by a planning inspector.

Despite a campaign to keep the airfield operational, consultants said it had no commercial future as an airport and the aviation industry would not be adversely affected by its closure.

The wider Filton, Patchway and Cribbs Causeway area is also set for housing expansion and roads will have to be built or upgraded to cope with more traffic.

But opening the Hallen loop to passenger trains – it is currently used to carry freight – would get more people off roads and on to public transport.

The council said the scale of development in the area gave an opportunity to look at opening the stations.

The Hallen loop runs along the southern side of the airfield to Avonmouth, with Filton Halt – also known as North Filton – next to the A38 at the eastern end of the runway. It would link up with a number of stations such as Bristol Parkway and Temple Meads. Originally opened in 1910, it was closed due to the First World War in 1915, re-opening in 1926. It closed for a second time in 1964.

Henbury also opened in 1910 and was shut for the war. Until re-opening in 1922, it continued to be served by workmen's trains but in 1964 was closed to passengers and a year later to goods traffic. The platforms which are still there might not be able to be used but a new station would be in the vicinity.

Dave Wood, a member of the Rail Maritime and Transport Union in Bristol and an Evening Post columnist, has long called for the line to be used for passenger services.

He said: "The roads won't be able to cope if all these houses are built. Without a shadow of doubt, they need to open up this line to passengers.

"The line is predominantly used for freight now but is also an important diversionary line."

South Gloucestershire's planning chief, Councillor Brian Allinson, said: "When it comes to levering in the necessary investment in major transport upgrades, all the advice we are getting is that the potential redevelopment of the airfield is an absolute game-changer. I've always been disappointed at the apparent lack of a business case for re-opening the Hallen railway line to passenger services but that seems to be changing.

"The aim of any redeveloped airfield would be for two new railway stations to be provided – one at each end of the new neighbourhood – to encourage a more sustainable mode of travel and make rail an integral way of getting around the area."

Bristol North West MP Charlotte Leslie said: "I've been banging on about this for ages so this is brilliant and really exciting, it will benefit the entire area. If we don't invest in rail, we are going to be absolutely gridlocked. It's the only way to get cars off the road and by doing that, buses then become more viable."

In the council's core strategy, the number of new homes to be provided by 2026 has risen to 26,400, of which more than 4,000 have already been built.

Council leaders reiterated that the green belt and open countryside were inappropriate for development and said if the airfield ended up not being used, it would strongly resist pressure to release alternative locations.

But it was confident it could work with BAE Systems on the scale of building proposed and said it also wanted to retain space for the air ambulance and police helicopter, as well as a long-term home for Concorde and the Bristol Aero Collection.

Among new roads would be an east-west link route south of the airfield.