Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

reductions in services or lines. After some protracted negotiations the redundant trackbed of the Baxenden incline was to be landscaped and brought back into recreational use. To be fair BR was trying hard to promote greater use of the trains by introducing Railcards, which was specifically designed to encourage retired and disabled people to travel more, even though it was marketed under the veiled threat that it might stave off further line closures. ) January From the 10 th to the 18 th , the International Boat Show was held at Earl’s Court, and a 2nd Class day return of £15:35p and £7:56p for a child included the underground ticket and reduced admission. A ‘Wanderer Ticket’ was introduced which would allow unlimited travel for seven days, after 18:00 on Mondays to Fridays and all day Saturdays and Sundays. The price was £3:00 for an adult, and it would be valid in an area bounded by Colne to the east, Blackpool North and South to the west, Entwistle and Adlington to the south, whilst to the north Morecambe, Grange, Oxenholme and Windermere would all be accessible. It was available up to March the 27 th . The Policy & Resources Committee met, when the Town Clerk brought to their attention a copy of a letter, from the Honorary Secretary of the Oswaldtwistle Civic Society to the Divisional Manager of British Railways in Preston, regarding the lack of facilities for the public at Church & Oswaldtwistle Station for special excursion trains. He requested that passengers should not be left ‘stranded’ at Accrington’s Railway Station on their return journeys. He then presented a second letter which contained the Civic Society’s rejection of BR’s proposals in answer to the original correspondence. It set out the Civic Society’s suggestions for solving this problem, and this involved setting up an agency in newly opened Travel Agents in Oswaldtwistle called Rishton Travel. The Town Clerk stated that the Civic Society now sought the support of Hyndburn Council for this proposal, and it was resolved to give whatever support they could to the Civic Society’s initiative. On Saturday the 17 th , another of the popular Mystery excursions was off, with fares at £6:60p and £3:30p for a child. The Highways & Transportation Committee also met in January, when the Town Clerk reported he had presented correspondence from the Divisional Manager of British Railways, to a meeting of Leaders and their Deputies held on November 27 th last, when he also drew the attention of the Members to the fact that BR had decided to make a special offer to the Council with regard to their Senior Citizens Rail Card Scheme. He had also requested a meeting with Hyndburn Council to discuss this new development in greater detail. This special offer referred to a discount on the bulk purchase of these Railcards, which would be negotiated on the basis of the numbers required and the special circumstances pertaining to each district. The Town Clerk explained that on several occasions during the past three years BR had asked local authorities to consider the benefits of offering to Senior Citizens one of the two Railcards available either in lieu of, or as part of a concessionary arrangement, but that there had been minimal response to this initiative. The inhibiting factors were the option that the elderly already had with the Councils for the issue of tokens, which were inter-changeable for bus or rail travel, the abstraction of revenue from bus services operated by the Council, the lack of railway facilities in the immediate area and the administrative changes required to a system which was operating satisfactorily. British Railways had acknowledged that all these were valid points, but felt that they should be weighed against the need to sustain a healthy rail network, which would widen the scope of travel to older citizens. The Town Clerk stated he had consulted with the PTM in order to solicit his views on this matter. He had been of the opinion that any concession for travelling on the railways should not replace the issue of tokens, but might complement it. The railway network within Hyndburn provided a “very limited” scope for local travel, and the system of using tokens was the only completely flexible one, enabling the elderly to choose between the various options including on which mode of travel to use them to a multiplicity of destinations. As a consequence of this, the Leaders and their Deputies had determined not to take any action on this offer, so the request from the Divisional Manager would be refused. It was resolved to accept the decision of the Leaders and their Deputies. February Advanced notice was given that bookings on the ‘Mini-Cruise’ to Shetland scheduled for Friday, May 22 nd , would have to be in by April the 21 st , when they would close. The itinerary was out on the 08:45 from Preston, changing in Glasgow from Central to Queen Street arriving in Aberdeen at 16:30. The Motor Vessel St Clair would sail at 18:00 and would return at 08:00 on Monday the 25 th . The fares of

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