Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

The 09:15 Accrington to Manchester Victoria. The 09:25 to Colne, (Saturdays only). The 10:18 to Colne. The 10:56 Accrington to Colne. The 11:30 to Preston, (Saturdays excepted). The 11:39 and the 14:47 Accrington to Manchester Victoria, (Saturdays only). The 12:14 to Todmorden. The 13:00 to Skipton. The 13:15 to Preston, (Saturdays only). The 13:30 and the 15:05 to Skipton, (both Saturdays only). The 14:25, 19:18 and the 20:40 to Preston. The 18:04 Accrington to Bury Bolton Street. The 19:17 Accrington to Manchester Victoria, (Saturdays only).

The 20:43 Accrington to Manchester Victoria. The 23:33 to Blackburn (Saturdays only).

On Sundays the trains affected were - The 08:05 to Skipton.

The 12:35 and the 19:55 to Manchester Victoria. The 14:01 to Todmorden. The 14:10 to Colne. The 15:45 and the 20:00 to Skipton.

Most of the trains affected would of course connect with those going further afield. In the middle of the week there were 26 to Blackburn, 20 to Colne and 8 to Bury. Saturday had the peak when 31 went to Blackburn, 23 to Colne and 11 to Bury, whilst in the reverse direction there were 27 from Blackburn, 23 from Colne and 9 from Bury. Leonard Dumont, of Rutland Street, Accrington, had purchased a return ticket from Blackburn to Church and then travelled through to Accrington, where he then caught a train back to Blackburn and then another train to Church. He was fined £3 for each of these three offences, also ordered to pay 5/6d costs and his advocate’s fee of £4 – 14s – 6d at Church Magistrate’s Court. BR announced that they were to carry out engineering works between Great Harwood and Simonstone each weekend between 07:30 on Saturday, the 27 th , to Monday, December the 19 th , and each weeknight after 19:30pm up until 5 am the following day. As a result of this some trains would be diverted to run ‘all stations’ to Accrington. These would be the 22:10 Blackburn to Colne, the 22:47 Blackburn to Colne (Saturdays only), and the 22:00 Colne to Blackburn. A change as a consequence of this would be the retiming of the 22:16 Preston to Accrington. BR stated that passengers who normally use the cancelled trains would be required to use alternative services by road to get to Great Harwood, Simonstone or Padiham. They apologised for any inconvenience caused by this essential work. On Sunday, the 28 th , the repeat excursions were to Chesterfield and Millom. In a reply to his letter of September, 27 th , to Sir Brian Robertson, MP Harry Hynd received the following written response - Sir, The General Manager informs me that he is making these cuts after a review of the lightly loaded services, of which you are bound to appreciate we are bound to keep a constant check. The trains to be withdrawn are those which carry so few passengers that they are quite uneconomical to operate. Due regard has been given to the alternative road services which operate in these districts. In order to have the consultation machinery operate as smoothly as is possible, the Commission and the Trade Unions have agreed that should any difficulties arise at a lower level, they will be referred to Headquarters for its assistance in resolving them. I understand that this procedure has already been followed in allaying some of the concerns expressed by the local railwaymen. I am sure you would not expect me to discuss this case with the GM, as he regards them as essential on economic grounds, and agree that we

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