Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

Grove to Colne branch and the Blackburn to Bolton section. The most encouraging prospect was that the York  Blackpool North service could be doubled to a half-hourly frequency so long as the ‘local’ train, ( Colne  Blackpool South service ), could be overtaken en route, the most likely place for this to occur being at Blackburn Station. This move was more dependent on the Route Utilisation Strategy on the other side of the Pennines, where it would be of greater benefit in alleviating overcrowding on the section between Halifax, Bradford and Leeds. Those proposals not included in the RUS for the period up to 2014, might be reconsidered in the next round of proposals for the period 2014 to 2019! Leaves on the East Lancashire Line causing delays during the autumn, meant that trains would miss out two stations in order to keep up to time. As a result the stops at either Cherry Tree or Pleasington and at Huncoat or Hapton would be alternatively omitted. December At a meeting of the Development Services Committee, the Borough Planning Officer reported that the County Council’s Planning Committee had completed its annual review of a rolling programme of Derelict Land Reclamation for the period 1979 to 2010, and that this programme included the following ex-railway sites in Hyndburn - (a) The Accrington to Baxenden disused railway trackbed. (b) The site off Heys Lane in Great Harwood. (c) The old Huncoat Colliery sidings. (d) These had all been included on this list for 1979/80. Also in December, the Recreation & Amenities met, when the Town Clerk reported being in receipt of a letter from a Councillor expressing concerns on the state of the disused railway cutting, running through the wards in Great Harwood and suggesting a ‘public surgery’ in order to suggest some improvements. The Borough Engineer reported that under the Special Environmental Assistance Scheme the former Great Harwood UDC had spent some £37,000 to reclaim the cutting, and although the major part of this work had been carried out, several ‘minor’ matters still needed to be resolved. He would be preparing a report at an early time on this subject to present to this Committee. The Borough Treasurer then reminded the Committee that the Policy & Resources Committee had recently approved the Capital Programme for 1979/80, and if this Committee intended to include a scheme for this ex-railway cutting next year, another project would have to be sacrificed. It was resolved following consideration of the Borough Treasurer’s report, arrangements would be put in place for a meeting between residents, a Sub Committee, the Officers of this Council and the Chairman and Vice-Chair of this Committee, to discuss this matter. On Monday, December 15 th , building work started on the new eco-friendly railway station on Eagle Street. The first excavations, noted earlier in the year, were to assess the substrata and to clear the site of persistent weeds. 2009 The Todmorden Curve, an Overview of the Buchanan Report January Travelling quite frequently by rail and bus I read with great interest all the reports and information passed on to me on the subject of the reinstatement of the curve at Hall Royd Junction, Todmorden. Two factors which only recently came into play have caused a re-evaluation of the circumstances that could occur, should the Todmorden curve be put back in. The first of these chronologically would be the introduction of free bus travel for the over sixties. Concessions had already been in place prior to April 1 st , 2008 for the disabled and aging people of course. The second, and possibly the most significant, in terms of commuting to Manchester was the indisputable rejection of congestion charging in Greater Manchester, no matter how shortsighted some judged it to be. This would at some stage in the near future place an even greater burden on the Train Operating Companies, (TOCs), in coping with increased capacity. Even before these changes I had voiced the opinion at a meeting held at Oswaldtwistle Mills in November 30 th , 2004, hosted by the Association of Community Rail Partnerships, that the railway could not compete with the quality bus services from the Burnley and Pendle areas (X43), and also from Accrington (X41) on either price or timings. Obviously the new concession had reinforced this view. But should the ‘curve’ be installed the question of timings would become a more important factor, especially if congestion increased beyond the present levels to a critical point.

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