Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

8:08am were also well loaded with war workers returning home to be with their relatives. Blackpool was again the main attraction. ( Stanley lost 4-0.) May Despite the bad weather, the spirit of VE Day had encouraged people to go to the coast at Whitsuntide, although raincoats and umbrellas were in evidence as day trippers queued outside the Booking Hall. There were no extra trains, but those for Blackpool, Morecambe and Southport were full on the Saturday. Sunday was quiet, but the weather improved and on Monday the crowds turned out again, with Liverpool and New Brighton on the list of chosen destinations. June At a meeting of the post-war Planning Committee a letter from the LMS Railway Company was placed before them. It detailed the discussions at a meeting held between their representatives and several of the areas Planning Authorities, which included proposals on the following - A. The electrification of the railway line from Bury through to Colne via Accrington. After full consideration of the points raised, the Railway Company had concluded that with regard to A & B the potential traffic on these lines would not be sufficient to warrant the large expenditure necessary to provide through electric train services, and that steam-hauled trains would adequately cope with the traffic operating through the area. (Note The L & Y had pioneered electrification of a commuter line between Liverpool and Southport line in 1904, the first Company to do so. However, a more ambitious scheme to have a circular line from Manchester via Oldham, Rochdale, Heywood, Bury and Prestwich back to Manchester, a distance over 21 miles had been ruled out in favour of a line to Bury via Prestwich, and then a further 3 miles north to Holcombe Brook. This was as near as electrification would get to Accrington. ) C, that in so far as Accrington Railway Station was concerned, it was proposed to carry out ‘certain’ alterations in order to make some improvements to modernise its structure and facilities, and that this work would be put in hand immediately that sufficient labour and materials became available again. July To mark the beginning of the Wakes Weeks no less than fourteen extra trains had been put on to Blackpool on the Saturday. Stationmaster Unsworth said a mass exodus was predicted, and there had been a steady stream of people all through the week booking advanced tickets after the Booking Office had opened on the previous Monday, at 7:30am. However, there were no seat reservations and people would have to queue to be admitted to the platforms in turn. On their return, visitors would have to go to the ticket office in Blackpool to specify on which train they intended to return, and these too would be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. The Blackpool ‘specials’ would depart for Blackpool Central at 7:25, 7:47, 8:26, 8:34 & 9:50 in the morning, and 12:13, 12:52, 1pm, 1:38, 1:47, 2:37 and 5pm in the afternoon, and to Blackpool North at 10:39am and 12:37pm. There was also through trains to Fleetwood at 8:40am, to Morecambe at 10:40am and to Southport at 12 noon and 5:09pm, but passengers for these resorts using ordinary service trains would have to change in Preston. This year there was an increase in bookings to Rhyl, Colwyn Bay and Llandudno, with passengers catching the 8:35 and 10:25 morning trains for Manchester Victoria, then having to take the long walk up the platform to Manchester Exchange Station for their onward trains. Those passengers heading for the Lake District could change in Blackburn for a through train to Barrow-in-Furness, as they could for Glasgow at 10:20am. This through train had been put on in order to relieve some of the congestion at Preston Station. Passengers for London could depart Accrington on the 8:08 as usual. The work which had been going on at Accrington Station to improve Platform 6 would not interfere with any holiday traffic. This had been going on for some weeks and involved taking up the wooden floor boarding, laying a concrete surface and erecting a large retaining wall. There would be no alterations made to the waiting room facilities however. Some of the best weather experienced for years helped to swell the numbers travelling by train. The figures released by Stationmaster Unsworth revealed that on the first Saturday around 12,000 people had left on trains. The breakdown showed approximately 6,000 had gone to Blackpool, 2,000 to Morecambe, 1,000 to Fleetwood, 800 to Southport, 500 for Liverpool, 250 for London and the South East and 150 for the resorts on the east coast. He said, there was an increase of 20% over the previous year, “and no-one had been left disappointed”. Throughout the week the number of day-trippers was up. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, about 1,500 had gone to Blackpool with 1,000 on Thursday, and 500 B. The electrification of the railway line via Blackburn from Preston C. A programme of improvements to Accrington Railway Station.

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