Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

December A new and highly dangerous practise of ‘train surfing’ had been witnessed at Huncoat Station, with youngsters grabbing on to handrails of the trains as they moved off, and then dismounting as the train reached the far end of the platforms at increasing speed. The Transport Police, having been alerted to this practise, had started patrols to deter any further incidents. Acting Sergeant Mark Bowman said “one slip and they could be under a train and this would result in fatal injuries. The shelters at Huncoat Station had also been badly vandalised in recent days. 1997 January Huncoat Councillor, Dave Parkins, had first brought the state of the bridge over the railway at Meadow Top in Huncoat, to the attention of Railtrack in 1994. He had pointed out that when they had sandblasted it they had made a good job, but had removed the guard rails from the coping stones and these had not been replaced on one side. Therefore, it would not have been too difficult for anyone to lean over and fall onto the lines. He had been reassured that these railings would be replaced as part of the East Lancashire Railside Revival Project, but up until today this had not been done. February The Development Services Committee met when the DofDS submitted a report on the changes to the Railside Revival Programme, in order to ensure full use of the financial assistance available in the year’s budget and it was resolved to approve the schemes as set down in the programme for 1996/97. Meeting again in June the Development Services Committee, then approved the schemes in the Railside Revival Programme for the financial year 1997/98. March On the 2 nd , under the Conservative Government’s Railways Bill, the railways in the North West passed into the ownership of Great Western Holdings, a privatised company. November Mr John Moorhouse, of the Rail Users’ Consultative Committee, gave a short presentation to the Development Services Committee before answering any questions on the subjects raised in it. It was resolved - To thank Mr Moorhouse for the presentation and that Hyndburn Borough Council would liaise with the Consultative Committee, in order to find the best method of lending its support for better railway services on the East Lancs Line. 1998 January After a long-running dispute between Railtrack and Huncoat Councillor Dave Parkins, the repairs to Bridge 41 near to Highbrake House had been completed. Parkins had even contacted the Health & Safety Executive in his campaign to have the hole in the masonry repaired so that access to the embankment above the tracks was blocked. He expressed his satisfaction in the manner in which the work had been completed, but only after the H&SE’s Inspector had made a visit. The Councillor was told that the excessive delay was due to a lack of communication between Railtrack and their contractors. February The Development Services Committee met, when the Director of Regeneration reported on the costs of the Railside Revival - West Accrington Recreational Corridor, asking members to transfer funding from the Leeds & Liverpool Canal budget in order to complete this scheme. It was resolved to transfer the sum of £20,700 as requested, with the proviso that it had the approval of the Policy & Resources Committee and the Rishton Ward members. MP Greg Pope expressed anger, that North Western Trains who had announced they would be introducing extra trains through the region, had not included any on the East Lancs Line. March Despite the announcement by North Western Trains that they were to introduce extra train services across the region, Greg Pope was angry that the East Lancs Line would not be a beneficiary of any. August the Development Services Committee met again when the Director of Regeneration reported on the progress of the East Lancs Railside Revival Programme during 1998/99. It was resolved to pledge continued support to this scheme, and to authorise the lighting of the section of the Corridor between Crossland Street to Accrington Railway Station’s Platform 1. It was further resolved that the scheme should also focus its attention on improving the appearance of the railway environment between Accrington and Church & Oswaldtwistle Stations. The Policy & Resources Committee met, when the Chief Executive asked the Committee to consider setting up a ‘Transport Panel’ to consider the Transport White Paper as recommended by the Environmental Services Committee. This Panel would be made up of 7 Labour and 3 Conservative representatives, and it was to accept this recommendation and set up this Transport Panel.

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