Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

Programme, as this would enable all the approved Railside Revival Schemes to be completed during 1991/92. 1992 October On Saturday the 3 rd , operating from Preston, Cheshire Railtours ran a twelve coach special, ‘The Green Dragon’, picking up in Accrington at 08:00, and running over the Settle & Carlisle Line. Time was allowed for a visit to Steamtown at Carnforth on the return journey, and tickets were priced at £19:50p and £14:50p for a child. November A second excursion ‘The Roses Fellsman’, also operated by the same Company ran to Settle via Leeds and Skipton with 450 passengers on board. December At a meeting of the Development Services Committee, the Director presented a report which reviewed the progress being made on the Railside Revival Programme, whilst identifying schemes which were due for implementation during 1992/93. It was resolved to support the list of schemes contained in this report and that the expenditure on these schemes would be authorised, in order that they might be implemented up to the Capital Programme Allocation of £30,000, also that a letter would be sent to British Railways welcoming their continued commitment to this scheme. Local businesses and community groups were being encouraged to join forces in the ‘Railside Revival’, which had already been set up and had achieved some improvements to facilities on the East Lancs Line. One had been the cleaning of the floodlights which illuminated Accrington’s Viaduct, whilst others included the painting of seventeen bridges, the planting of 10,000 trees and 4,700 flower bulbs. It had also identified thirteen sites of special wildlife interest. This would run alongside the joint station modernisation scheme operated by BR and LCC. 1993 ( Under the stewardship of Conservative Minister John MacGregor the White Paper on Railways was published in January, and this would become the Railways Bill which saw the piecemeal privatisation of British Railways starting in 1996.) February Early in the month it was announced that £60,000 was to be spent on the station approaches in Accrington. Hyndburn Council, having agreed with LCC that this was one of the priorities included in the Railside Revival Scheme, had offered to pay up to one third of the cost of this work which would begin shortly and take several weeks to complete. The car park would be resurfaced along with the main pedestrian access off Blackburn Road, with the cobbled banking set with plants. However, this meant that several other projects would have to be postponed, including the cleaning and repainting of the railway bridge over Bolton Avenue in Within Grove, which would have to wait another year as it would cost another £6,000 to complete. The Development Services Committee met in when the Director submitted a report on the improvements to the approaches to Accrington Railway Station as contained within the Railside Revival Scheme, and it was resolved - (1) That the details of the improvements to Accrington’s Railway Station would be approved and that the other elements of BR’s scheme should be implemented during 1993. (2) That the element containing the cleaning and repainting of the bridge over Bolton Avenue should be held over until the programme for 1993/94. (3) That an expenditure of up to £30,000 would be authorised in order to implement these schemes. May The APEX return fare from Accrington to London was £28 if booked a full 7 days in advance. This fare was also valid from five other railway stations along the East Lancs Line. June In another meeting of the Development Services Committee, an appeal against a decision not to allow one space beneath one of the Viaduct’s arches on Whalley Road to be used as a works to manufacture and the sale of window units was dismissed. Meeting again the Development Services Committee heard the DofDS present a progress report on the Railside Revival Programme, which identified schemes for implementation during 1993/94. Members were asked to support the recommendations contained in this report together with an addendum concerning the stone bridge over Whalley Road in Accrington, and it was resolved to accept and approve the list of works included in this report. In addition, the scheme to include the Whalley Road Bridge would be urgently progressed, and finally that the work on Church & Oswaldtwistle Railway Station should also be included as a ‘top priority’.

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