Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

Rapid Transit system to the area. The East Lancashire Partnership envisaged articulated units running every ten minutes from Preston through to North East Lancashire. “The plans should be ready by the end of the year,” said Mr John Tilley, Director of the ELP, following extensive consultation, research, and costing. Any Rapid Transit System of course, depended upon government matching local private funding in order to finance the scheme. But if this were forthcoming, then the system could be up and running in a relatively short space of time. There would be 4 main interchanges, situated in Accrington, Blackburn, Burnley and Rawtenstall, which would be at the hub of the network, with further extensions to Bacup, Clitheroe, Darwen, Nelson and Colne, and intermediate communities. June The railways were severely disrupted when at a point approximately 200 yards on the Church & Oswaldtwistle side of Rishton Station, concrete was placed on the track. The slab, which normally covers the signal cables, damaged the oil and air apparatus of a Diesel Multiple Unit that was operating on the Blackpool South to Colne service. Neither the driver, nor any of the thirty passengers were injured, but signal cables, which had also been dragged across the rails, were also severed. From 18:45 services passing through the area were subject to delays, and three youths who were stranded on the train, having been informed that it would go no further than Rose Grove, then proceeded to smash up the driver’s cab. A new action group had been formed, the Skipton - East Lancashire Rail Action Group (SELRAP), which aimed to have the eleven mile stretch of former Midland railway line between Colne and Skipton brought back into use for the first time since it was closed during the post-Beeching era. A spokesperson had stated, that it was hoped to halt any further developments on the trackbed much of which was still extant. This alignment had been touted as the route of a possible extension to the M65 motorway into Yorkshire. Last ditch talks between ASLEF and First North Western Trains saw the industrial action due to start on the 25 th avoided. The Union claimed that the Company was reneging on an agreement to reduce the working week to 35 hours. All 600 drivers had agreed to support this strike which would have seen all the East Lancashire Line’s services suspended. July There was some concern amongst local rail-user groups that the Trans-Pennine Express service, linking the Fylde Coast with Yorkshire was under threat of withdrawal. The service, marketed by operator the Arriva Group under the ‘Roses Rail Link’ banner was, to quote them, “a secondary aspiration”. This route had not been included in the portfolio of bid contender First Group whilst another bidder Connex, had so far not declared its hand. Connex was the first operator to have one of its franchises taken away due to poor standards of service. An Oswaldtwistle man, who it was alleged had been drinking and had stumbled and fallen down on the railway line close to Blythe’s Bridge, lost four fingers when a Colne to Preston train ran over his hand. The driver thought he had hit the 38-year old and immediately stopped the train. He and the guard took the man to Rishton Station where an ambulance was waiting to take him to Blackburn Royal Hospital from where he was transferred to Withington Hospital in Manchester, where he would undergo pioneering surgery. His sister stated, “You can’t blame people for taking short cuts”, and denied he was inebriated. Police Sergeant Moore confirmed they would be interviewing this man with a view to prosecuting him for trespass. The man himself later issued a statement warning others not to take short cuts or to trespass upon the railway. August The Chief Executive of Connex, the French owned Train Operating Company (TOC), had admitted that the method by which they ran trains in the South East was flawed, especially in their relationship with the driver’s Union ASLEF. However, he had promised that if they were to be successful in their bid to win the Trans-Pennine franchise, they would invest in “new state-of-the-art” diesel multiple units. Their network of services would also enable a passenger to travel between all the larger towns in the north, including Accrington, with no more than one change of train. September The SRA, (Strategic Rail Authority), had launched a public consultation in order to hear the views of the population on what they felt the future of the East Lancs Line should be. There had been an outcry from user groups when the future of the cross-Pennine service was under threat, as it was estimated to carry in the region of two million passengers each year. Current operators Arriva Plc had promised to stop at more stations on the Lancashire side if they were successful in retaining this franchise. Connex and First Group, who was the current holders of the franchise for the Colne  Blackpool South all-stations services, still had not yet declared their hands. The busiest stations at which

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