It closed 14 years ago after huge losses, but the Epping to Ongar branch of the Central Line has now attracted a petition supporting its reinstatement.

London Underground closed the Ongar extension in 1994 after nearly 40 years of use, claiming it was no longer financially viable.

A petition to reinstate the extension has sprung up on the internet and has already attracted dozens of signatories.

Petition creator Stewart Cunningham said: "People who live in areas such as Epping, North Weald, Ongar and other towns nearby such as Harlow and Bishop's Stortford are annoyed about the current lack of transport in the Ongar area.

"Epping tube station has become too busy for it to handle the growth. Growth of Ongar especially means that the branch would no-longer be unprofitable. Other ideas such as having the stations un-manned would mean the stations would bring in more revenue."

One man supporting the campaign is chairman of the Ongar Railway Preservation Society, John Glover.

He said: "I've felt for some time that the people in Ongar need the restitution of the railway. In Ongar I know people of all political persuasions, but I feel the Labour party have let us down with their lack of support.

"The Ongar railway is extremely close to my heart. Restoring it would be good for the whole community, but that's going to be hard though. It really suffered from a lack of resources from London Underground from 1970 onwards when it stopped being managed to a proper standard and they reduced the speed limit to 20 MPH."

Malcolm Hills, chairman of the Epping-Ongar Railway Volunteer Society, said his group, which runs diesel trains between North Weald, Coopersale and Ongar, could work well with any reinstated train line.

But he admitted any future for reinstation looked bleak adding: "The reason they killed it in the first place was it just wasn't financially viable. At the end of the day, who's going to subsidise it? Petitions are great and I agree with it in theory, but I can't see it happening."