Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

( The go ahead was granted for the construction of the Haslingden Bypass, which would be along the alignment of the former railway from just beyond Rising Bridge towards Helmshore. This would put to an end any vague hopes of reopening the line between Accrington and Ramsbottom .) April There were specials to Blackpool and to Morecambe on Good Friday the 8 th , both at £1:60p and 80p for a child. Blackpool would again be visited on Easter Sunday for a half-day at £1:00 and 50p, and then on Easter Monday when Southport was the alternative, again at £1:60p and 80p. On Saturday the 9 th , BR ran a special excursion to the Blackpool v Burnley game. The return fare was £1:50p with no half fares. The train departed Accrington at 13:04 with a return from Blackpool South at 17:15. The same Mystery excursion ticket prices applied to the one which ran on Saturday the 9 th . The timings were Accrington 08:01, Rishton 08:09, arriving at 13:00, returning at 18:06 and back at 23:06 and 23:12 respectively. On Sunday the 10 th , the ramblers were off to Chester for £1:50p and 90p and Shrewsbury at £1:75p and £1:00, with more organised walks. On Monday the 11 th , there was another special to York with fares at £2:25p and £1:40p. Timings were Rishton depart at 09:33, Accrington at 09:40, arriving at 11:30 and returning at 17:58, back in town for 19:41, Rishton at 19:48. On the same day there was a repeat of the excursion to Chester and the resorts along the North Wales coast. The fares to Chester were £1:70p and £1:10p and to Rhyl, Colwyn Bay and Llandudno £2:40p and £1:60p. The campaign against further line closures was being spearheaded by the townsfolk of Hapton, when at a meeting held in their Methodist Hall on Wednesday evening the 13 th , about 140 people attended to hear speeches from representatives from the pressure group Transport 2000 and the NUR. The President of the North West Area of Transport 2000 stated, “It was suspected that British Railways ws eerrvei ciens nweigt oh t bi aut si oe ns .s I wn itthhe tphaes Nt tawt i eonntayl yBeuasr sC ot hmepnaunmy boenr tohfe rsouubt ej emc t i loefsroe np l tahcei nrga iul wn pa ryos f ii nt atbhl ies tar raei na hpal adn gs oanree bf rroomu g1h2t 4totof r u4i2t i, ownhtihl setnfat hreesEhaas tdLraoncckse tLeidn eawn di l lrbo lel ionngesotof ctkh ewfai rss ta tloa ug goh”. i n g s to c k . I f t h e s e Mr Paul Salveson, who was formerly a guard based in Blackburn and was now Secretary of the Manchester District of the National Union of Railwaymen, stated “We have seen what happened in Gn or ejaoty Hf oarr wa or aoidl waanydmPaand wi hha omi. sTuhnedPe rr eds itfof inc ut ol t Cc oi rlcnuemLsi tnaen hc ea ss , bs et rei nv i ng rgatdoupa rl loyvri du en ad od we cne,nat nsde rtvhiec reeoins pi mo op rolryt amn ta irnotlaei nt oe dp l at rya, ibnust, nwoitt ha ssaena tas c ct he pa tt aabrl ee snuobt s tf ii tt uttoe fsoi rt tor na i. nIs . aTc hc ei sp ht atsh abte ebnu fsoeiss tde do uhpaov ne uasn, firstly by Beeching and now by Marples, and now they are planning to take it a stage further”. The meeting passed a resolution which read - “This meeting considers that the proposal to replace local passenger rail services with buses is ill conceived, divisive and likely to result in a further decline in the standard of public transport. Instead we are calling for greater investment in both bus and rail services, the integration of routes timetables and fares, along with immediate discussions between Managers, Unions, local authorities and transport users, for the achievement of these objectives.” Transport 2000 had already submitted plans to BR that included several suggestions - (1) A reinforcement of existing stopping trains. (2) The introduction of an express operating hourly between the hours of 07:15 and 18:15, linking Preston with Colne whilst stopping only at manned stations.

(3) The operating of certain ‘Saturday only’ trains on every weekday. (4) Introducing refurbished units to replace the existing rolling stock. (5) Better integration of rail and road services.

(6) The introduction of integrated ticketing.

On Friday the 15 th , a wagon in a coal train came off the rails between Church and Rishton. It ran over the sleepers for about a mile before striking the platform edge at Rishton Station blocking the line. The line to Colne remained operational, but Ribble buses were used to ferry passengers between Accrington and Blackburn. However, the wagon was so badly damaged a crane had to be brought in,

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