Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

CHAPTER 15

1991 TO 2004 - PRIVATISATION MAKES ITS MARK 1991 ( All good things would have to come to an end and the Ramblers’ excursions were the latest to come under pressure from a uncooperative BR, who were reluctant to do anything other than provide scheduled services. Perhaps they had got wind of what was to come under the Tory Government, who were looking to follow what they had done with the buses and privatise the railway operations. ) January The Rail Ramblers’ Association announced they were planning several excursions during the year, starting on Saturday, January the 12 th , to Hebden Bridge, with another later in the month to Whitchurch and Nantwich. However, the tickets for scheduled timetable services which would now have to be used in order to take part in the walks could only be obtained from BR’s manned stations. These were in the form of North West Ranger Tickets and Day Savers for the shorter journeys. February Rail Rambles planned for the month included Buxton and Ulverston, whilst in March it was intended to visit Styal and Alderley Edge, then Grange-over-Sands. March At a meeting of the Technical Services Committee, the Director presented a report on the results of a survey carried out by Lancashire County Council on the accessibility of railway stations, the problems and the costs of rectifying them. It was resolved to forward the views of this Council to the Secretary of State for Transport. The results of the Trans-Pennine Rail Study being undertaken on behalf of local authorities on both sides of the Pennines was also reported on. May In order to brighten up the town’s most imposing structure, it was confirmed that the railway viaduct would be illuminated. It would be part of a £30,000 scheme funded jointly by British Railways, Hyndburn Borough Council and Lancashire County Council. June There were protests from a resident of Rishton about the changes to the timetable which saw the 07:10 ‘all stations train’ between Preston and Colne, changed to an ‘express’ which only called at Bamber Bridge, Blackburn, Accrington and Burnley Central, then all stops to Colne. It was claimed that BR would lose between 50 and 60 passengers each day by this change, which seemed perverse as they had only reopened Lostock Hall Station four years previously and spent money on improving the facilities at Rishton, Church & Oswaldtwistle and Hapton. Overcrowding on trains was yet another source of complaints. The explanation proffered by Steve Cornish, BR’s Resources Manager was, “It was in order to keep time on a tight schedule on the East Lancs Line and to reflect the needs of the majority of passengers. Whilst a shortage of Diesel Multiple Units had exacerbated the situation”. However, soon afterwards it was announced that an additional DMU had been found and this had enabled BR to put these three station stops back into the timetable. Mr Cornish did add, that this would only allow the crew four minutes in both Colne and Preston to turn the train around for the return journey. Although he was not entirely happy with this situation, it would be kept on until the end of the current timetable in October. He stated that in October another spare DMU would become available and this would alleviate the problem to a certain extent. Councillor Slynn however, put the problems down to a serious underfunding of BR by the Government.

392