Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

improvement to their services”. In reply, Mr Albert Murray, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport, said “The Board of BR had informed us that there was no Capital expenditure involved in these changes, so there was no need to approach the Minister before implementing them”. He added that any complaints on the state of Accrington Railway Station should be directed to the Transport Users Consultative Committee, based at Room 303, in the Royal Exchange, Cross Street, Manchester. In response to correspondence from Mr K. Yates, the Town Clerk of Accrington, Mr Murray had written - “At present as I am sure you will know, we are currently paying grants for these services under Section 39 of the Transport Act 1968, and it is the Minister’s responsibility to ensure that they are providing value for money . The major timetable changes that will come into operation in May, 1970, arose out of a detailed review carried out by BR at the end of 1968, in conjunction with the Economic Planning Council for the North West, as it was felt that local knowledge would be of value. As a result the new pattern of travel has been designed to meet the travel needs of the area. I do not think it is fair to describe these as a ‘run down’ in rail services through Accrington. Trains will run as frequently and in most instances only a few minutes will be added to journey times. In addition there will be two ‘limited stop’ trains through to Blackpool and four in the reverse direction. Changing trains in Blackburn for Manchester and Preston for Blackpool will cause a certain amount of inconvenience, but passengers will only have to cross a platform to make a connection. On the subject of Accrington’s Station, since it only involved an insignificant amount of expenditure, it is primarily a matter for the BR Board, so we had not been asked to approve the changes”. 1970 ( Whilst it was perceived that the train services and even the East Lancs Line itself was under threat, the preservation of trains in the area was gathering a momentum, which would prove fruitful and with the organisation using Accrington Station in order to run special trains to raise funds. Buildings which had been part of the townscape since 1846 were now gone. Another line closure would occur at the end of the year, which would in time prove to be as short-sighted as the Accrington to Bury one. In April a new type of excursion was operated for the first time. The destinations were not identified in advance and they were advertised as ‘mystery trips’. By the end of this chapter no less than 70 had operated. ) January With the demolition of the now redundant Eagle Street side of Accrington Railway Station, work was underway in transferring the booking hall facilities to the Paxton Street side. One part of the footbridge, over the former Manchester lines, was to be demolished whilst the remaining half was to be refurbished. February The MP for Accrington, Mr Arthur Davidson, was successful in his campaign to have British Rail retain the cheap period return tickets to Blackpool on Saturdays, when it had been proposed to withdraw them. March A special trip to London organised by the East Lancs Railway Preservation Society was this year’s annual excursion, run on the same lines as a previous trip. April On Saturday the 18 th , members of the East Lancs Railway Preservation Society were to have a car washing event on Broadway car park in Accrington, in order to raise funds for the reopening of the line between Grane Road in Haslingden and Stubbins Junction. Without any great publicity on Saturday the 25 th , BR ran a popular excursion that would become a custom, when they ran a ‘Mystery Trip’ by train. This would depart Blackburn at 09:50, Accrington at 10:00 and arrive at its destination at 12:45, returning at 18:35. The fares were 20/- for an adult and 12/6d

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