Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

considerable expense, told me that those to mystery destinations were not as popular as those to named destinations. They therefore did not book up as well, and were more liable to make a loss. I travelled on the majority of these excursions and was surprised by the fact that mystery trips were the least popular, as in the days of British Railways they had always seemed very well patronised. ) November Not before time it had been announced that Huncoat Railway Station was to be granted £40,000 of cash in order to give it a much needed facelift. It was one of five similarly unmanned stations in the County to be awarded cash for improvements that would include improved lighting, seating, signage, shelters and cutting back any overgrown foliage. The Chairman of the East Lancashire Railway Partnership who was also the Rail Project Manager for Lancashire County Council, Mr. Richard Watts, said, “This is just one piece of a much bigger programme to improve every station on the Preston to Colne line.” As always there was a snag, and in this instance it was that work was not due to begin until sometime in 2008. What would start on November 12 th , for six consecutive Sundays was engineering work on the line. This would necessitate the use of rail replacement services whilst the work was underway. Work started on the first Sunday when Enfield Road was closed, whilst engineers carried out maintenance work on the level crossing gates at the end of the platforms of Huncoat Station. Train conductors and station staff of Northern Rail, the franchise holders of the services which use the East Lancashire Line, had signed a petition asking for more train managers to be on hand during the late evenings and at weekends. The rise on assaults on staff had risen by 106% in the past five years, this year alone there have been 109 instances of physical assault and 230 reports of threats and verbal abuse. The RMT Union was also pushing for manned stations to remain open until after the last scheduled trains had departed as another means of curbing the antisocial behaviour. In response to this Northern Rail had said that they would not tolerate any violence aimed at their employees, but claimed that in the last year and a half the instances of assault and intimidation had actually been falling. Over the next ten years the number of passengers using the trains in the North West was predicted to increase by 13%. In order to accommodate the demand for extra capacity it was expected that there would have to be longer trains as well as more of them. This would mean that platforms at some stations could have to be brought back into use and lengthened, and line speeds increased wherever possible. Already announced were addition trains for the Manchester  Blackpool route and a third platform at the terminus in Manchester Airport. Having just recorded the end of St James’ Day Tripper excursions, on Saturday, November 25 th , another operator stepped into the breach to run a railway excursion from East Lancashire to London. Picking up in Blackburn, Accrington and Burnley, the train then proceeded via the East Coast mainline to arrive in King’s Cross at five to midday. It gave travellers a full six and half-hours to enjoy in the Capitol before returning home. It was several years since St. James had last operated an excursion to London, on that occasion going via the West Coast Mainline to Euston. This special train had incensed local traders, who voiced their concern that it was taking trade away from them at their most important time of the year, on the run up to Christmas. They seemed to blame everyone but themselves for this exodus. December The Government had classified the East Lancashire Line as a ‘Community Rail Link’, which meant it would now come under the umbrella of the Community Rail Development Strategy. This was a body whose task it was to promote the railways by improving services, increasing frequencies and investing in better stations and infrastructure. The Secretary of the East Lancashire Community Rail Partnership, Richard Watts said, “This was the culmination of two years of hard work, and should ensure the development of the railway through East Lancashire through consultations with local councils and other interest groups”. Week four of the Sunday engineering works saw Accrington as the centre of the track improvements with English, Welsh & Scottish Railways, (EWS) Class 66:067 in charge of the ballast train working to the east of the viaduct’s Whalley Road Bridge. The new ballast was being unloaded by a Hydrex excavator under the watchful eye of two engineers. The cross Pennine rail replacement service was again in the hands of Atlantic Executive Coaches, but on this occasion it was supplemented by another vehicle from the same source. As we got closer and closer to Christmas the possibility of increased numbers of passengers would become a reality, so full marks to First for anticipating this trend. However, having doubled up as a comfortable waiting room until the arrival of its larger stablemate, a

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