Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

them over. However, Trans-Pennine Express, who operated the cross-Pennine services which were ‘limited stop’ in Lancashire, but all stations in Yorkshire, had retained their right to operate these franchised services. 2016 January With a new operator taking over the services passing through Accrington as of April 1 st , next, details of just how they were going to invest in their new franchises had been revealed. Arriva were to rebrand their services as ‘Northern Connect’, and have made commitments to invest in 281 brand new carriages. German-owned by Deutsche Bahn it was promising £1 billion of new investment, including withdrawal of all the 142 ‘Pacers’ within three years. This franchise would run until March 31 st , 2025. Arriva was also to strengthen the Manchester - Blackburn service to two trains per hour, which would bring it a step nearer to implementing the suggestion that the services linking North East Lancashire with Greater Manchester could eventually operate in a full circle in both the clockwise, and the anti-clockwise directions. First Trans-Pennine Express which operated the Blackpool – Preston – Blackburn – Accrington – Burnley – York (via Halifax, Bradford & Leeds) services, were promising 220 brand new carriages. This franchise would operate until March 31 st , 2023. February From reports in the railway press it seemed that Arriva Northern Rail had placed orders for 55 Diesel Multiple Units for its new franchise, which includes the East Lancashire Line’s services. Of these 25 will be 2-car construction and 30 will be 3-car. A Northern Rail contact revealed that when Arriva Northern Rail takes charge the only noticeable change that will take place is that he will receive a new uniform, shirt and tie, the umpteenth he has had whilst he has been employed on the railways. He has confided that it is the intention of Arriva to have the Booking Hall open until 22:00, but didn’t hold up a great deal of hope that the East Lancashire Line would actually receive any of the promised new rolling stock, but instead will receive hand-me-downs from other lines, as has been the case on all the previous occasions. The Policy Director of the new Arriva Rail North franchise, Roger Cobbe, was a speaker at a meeting of TravelWatch North-West which took place at the Mechanics Institute on Princess Street in Manchester, on Thursday, February 18 th . He eulogised about the amount of investment his Company was committed to making after April 1 st , which included 55 Diesel Multiple Units. Of these 25 would be 2-car construction and 30 3-car. These DMU’s would be built by CAF (Construcciones y Auxciliar de Ferrocarriles) in Valencia, Spain, and would be similar in design and construction to the Class 4000 ones delivered in 2011/12 to the Northern Ireland Railways. They would have a top speed of 100 mph, and were part of a £490 millions order, which will include 31 3-car Electric Multiple Units and 12 4-car sets for the electrified routes. He stated that all the 142 ‘Pacers’ would be withdrawn by 2019, and the 153 units by 2020, with all the other cascaded stock being fully refurbished before being released back into service. He went on to promise 2,000 extra trains each week, with enhanced Sunday and off-peak time tables, that 45 currently unmanned stations would be staffed and 57 will have longer opening times. All stations with an average of 3,000 passengers per year would also have some kind of ticketing facilities. One of his projected improvements would be a direct service from Blackburn, Burnley and Accrington through to Manchester Airport. However, when questioned about the fact that during 2015 no less than 588 trains were cancelled due to lack of staff, and that trains are running with two carriages locked off out of use, he was evasive and stated that at some stations the platforms were not long enough to accommodate loading for more than two-car sets! ( Which on the Colne - Blackpool South service probably only applies to Moss Side, if that. ) The second presentation was by Trans-Pennine Express’s Chris Nutton, who was the Company’s Programme Director. Here again we were informed of plans for new trains and services. He explained that the Class 185 EMUs would remain in service following refurbishment, even though there would be 220 new carriages added to the fleet. In 2019 there would be 12 services each day to Edinburgh from the North West, in addition to some direct services from Liverpool to Glasgow, with connections from East Lancs. He hoped that it would be possible to have an integrated ticketing system compatible with MetroLink. As part of their successful bid £18 millions had been pledged for improvements to stations, and a ‘reserve’ fund had been established of £39 millions for investment in other ideas which might be adopted as a result of a consultation process.

455