Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

reinstated had gone before the Transport Secretary and the Deputy Prime Minister. The report claimed that a reopening of this route would ease the burden on other Trans-Pennine routes, and provide an alternative route over which freight could be diverted. The Action Group would continue to direct its attention to protecting the trackbed from further development, until such time a decision was made on the link. Other of the region’s rail pressure groups, have had considerable success in achieving what at first sight seem unlikely objectives in the past. It was reported that from February 1 st , the new Trans-Pennine franchise holder would take over the services that First North Western operated from East Lancashire through to Manchester International Airport. The first sign of any changes on the railway operation scene had been unveiled in a ceremony at Manchester Airport, by combining some of the services previously operated by First North Western and Arriva Trains Northern, to create a new Trans-Pennine Express franchise. Most of the nine hundred strong workforce were expected to join the new TOC, which was a joint undertaking between First North Western and Keolis. One of the services included was the link between York/Scarborough and Blackpool North, which of course ran through Accrington. This consortium had made a commitment to invest in excess of £250 million on improvements to the services and infrastructure. This included a fleet of more than fifty new trains, which will be introduced in stages starting in 2006. However, the existing timetable arrangements would remain in place until December, when the first of the revisions would then take place. Local MP’s had petitioned the Strategic Rail Authority to ask that when the West Coast Main Line upgrading was completed, feeder services would receive due consideration. They were keen to ensure that the ‘local’ line services interchanged realistically with the main line, when they arrived and departed the interface at Preston Station. On the railway front, the work on Church & Oswaldtwistle Station was described as “progressing well”. A new ‘green’ shelter was being developed which would use solar and wind power to light and heat it. This was described as “providing warm seats for the local youths”. ( No, my eyes haven’t deceived me ). March At a meeting of Great Harwood Area Council, a spokesperson for the Prospects Panel presented proposals for a Railway Walk Project, to commence later in 2004 on the erstwhile trackbed of the East Lancs Avoiding Line ( the Harwood Loop Line ), and stated that it included benches, litter bins and dog waste bins all at a cost of £25,000. Residents felt that this was a waste of money by providing targets for vandalism, but were reassured that these would be as vandal-proof as was possible. April At another meeting of Great Harwood Area Council the sum of £4,000 was allocated from the Area Council’s budget, towards the Railway Walk Project during 2004/05. If it were April 1 st you might have passed the next passage off as some sort of a joke, but it wasn’t. After spending what seems a very great deal of money on the refurbishment of Blackburn Railway Station, trains heading for Preston and Manchester were not using the main platform, but instead running into Platform 4. This particular platform had two bus-like shelters, to accommodate the travelling public and protect them from the elements. Why were trains not using the platform with the canopy and the rest of the ‘comfort’ paraphernalia? Answer, “Because it slows them down too much”. On their approach to the platform primarily designed for their use, the trains had to negotiate a set of points, and to do so in complete safety the driver is required to slow to a walking pace. This cuts valuable running time out of the schedule, which it was alleged was difficult to recover! By coming through on Platform 4 the approach could be made at speed, thus enabling the timetable to be kept. I couldn’t believe that the schedule was so tight that some time could not be regained between Colne and Preston. But once again the poor old ‘customer’ was having to endure the often cold and damp end of the stick. (As a footnote to the controversy surrounding the use of the uncovered Platform 4 on Blackburn Station, Network Rail had stated that it had no further plans to spend more money on the facilities. TOC First North Western Trains were to continue using Platform 4 for their services, even though it was only intended for situations where all of the other platforms were out of action. The only work to be done would be the retiling of some areas of the underpass, where already some of the ceramics had come adrift. Another criticism of the £6 million railway station was the passengers sometimes have to cross platforms in order to access the booking hall and purchase their tickets. The authority of Blackburn with Darwen was to investigate the planning conditions to see if there was a way to coerce Network Rail, who own the station, to make the necessary improvements.

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