Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

to the retail outlet for those coming off certain trains. They were currently working with the East Lancs Railway Partnership in a refurbishment of the station. October Church Area Council met when a resident complained that the pathway along the railway line from Church Station was overgrown by bushes, and it was resolved that these would indeed be attended to. The popularity of Ossy Mills as a tourist attraction had benefited the local railway station. With visitor numbers having already passed the total achieved in 2002, the retail outlet had spent £5,000 on improvements to Church & Oswaldtwistle Railway Station. This had seen CCTV cameras installed to cover the platforms, which were only five minutes’ walk away from the complex entrance. Daily inspections and litter patrols were also part of the package. Since it opened in 1991 the arts, crafts and history site had expanded to the point where it was expected that one and a half million visitors would pass through the doors by the end of 2003. November A ground-breaking initiative had been launched in the Chorley area to try to make railway stations trouble free. The ‘Rail Watch’ project involved the British Transport Police, rail operating companies, local community police and members of adjacent neighbourhood watch schemes. First North Western had even issued free rail passes for bona fide watch wardens to travel between Chorley, Adlington and Euxton, in order to check for trespass and vandalism on the line. Just as in Hyndburn local yobs tended to use unmanned stations for congregating in the evenings and it was hoped that by having a regular patrols they would reduce any potential intimidation of passengers. Although £630,000 has been allocated by Arriva Trains Northern to improve facilities at stations in the north, rail user groups were critical of the plans. With fifty stations on the list, it meant that the average amount each facility would receive was less than £13,000. This, in the case of Burnley Manchester Road, which was one of the stations selected, would only cover the cost of repainting. With a meagre 22% of people happy to wait for a train after dark, it was no wonder that complaints had been received about the standard of lighting at Accrington Station. It had taken the council three days to fix two of the lights that illuminate the walkway between platform 1 and the Eagle Street car park. It may not sound a lot, but this represented half of the available lighting. Back on daylight saving ‘winter’ time, it was now dark from mid-afternoon and this is causing some anxiety especially among female passengers. Sunday the 23 rd was the first of two, when track maintenance would close the line between Blackburn and Colne on the ‘local’ line and between Blackburn and Hebden Bridge on the Trans-Pennine route. This of course meant that Fraser Eagle’s ‘Rail Support Services’ were in action on the streets of their hometown. The situation was being complicated by a series of road works on the A666 between Darwen and Blackburn, and on Accrington Road over the Leeds & Liverpool Canal at Eanam. Two temporary bus stops were situated close to the Railway Station on Blackburn Road, the eastbound one right at the main door of the Imperial Public House, and the westbound rather ironically at the lamppost outside Pilkington’s registered office. In their high-visibility jackets, two of Fraser Eagle’s co-ordinators were on duty, and there was much use of the mobile phone. With several people waiting, the Trans Pennine service was obviously running late. December Baxenden Area Council met once more and Alisdair Simpson gave a presentation of the outlined proposals for a cycleway on the disused Accrington to Baxenden Railway line. He stated that one of the problems to be overcome was drainage, which had caused deterioration in the trackbed surface. He stated that this path would when completed be suitable for all users. In reply to questions, Mr Simpson stated that the surface would not necessarily be tarmac, and that the vegetation would be cut away to a width of 2 metres on either side to help accommodate horse riders, also that barriers would be put in place to deter motorcycles and quad bikers. It had come again to that time of the year when Train Operating Companies reviewed their fares structure. Arriva Trains Northern who (as yet) ran the Trans-Pennine service through Accrington had just announced their latest increases. As from Monday, January 4 th , all ‘regulated’ fares would go up by on average 4.1%, and all ‘unregulated’ fares by 5.1%. The Managing Director of the Company had said that these increases were very much in line with those of the other TOC’s. Some of the hoped for increased revenue would go to the Strategic Rail Authority in order to help fund its modernisation plan. The current (December, 2003) ‘standard’ return fare between Accrington and Blackpool, either North or South, stood at £8:40p.

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