Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

would be lost to the more unscrupulous passengers. One aspect of this issue which seemingly had not entered the debate was that of safety within the trains, as we now live in an age where there are dangers which did not formerly exist. I amongst others, would prefer to have someone other than a driver, who has many other details with which to attend, to be on a train in order to keep an eye on things, and is there to open the doors should anything untoward occur. November On Wednesday the 8 th , in the on-going dispute, there was another one day stoppage by members of the RMT. It had been announced that Arriva was not to bid for the Wales & Valleys franchise when it came up for tender during 2018, which is the first occasion in the history of franchising that the incumbent had decided not to make an attempt to retain the franchise. This could mean that all the new stock currently under contract for construction in Spain might be coming to their north-west operations. News is that the maintenance facility which was under construction at the old coal concentration depot in Blackburn was now finished a year before schedule, although not yet operational. Saturday the 11 th , marked the beginning of major works which would affect the railway services passing through Accrington/Hyndburn. No longer would trains be travelling any further than Preston towards Blackpool, as the electrification of the line at last got underway. Blackpool South would become accessible after the 28 th , of January 2018, but it would not be until March the 25 th , ‘till trains would be able to reach Blackpool North. Before this however, there would be some disruption to the East Lancs Line, and this began on Saturday the 11 th , with the engineers in possession of the section from Gannow Junction to Colne. Services along the entire line would be off on the following day, Sunday, again for essential work. The steward co-ordinating things at the Accrington end told me, that even though there were coaches going through to Preston passengers would still have to change coaches in Preston for destinations on the Fylde coast. December Very many years ago I walked between the former Simonstone Railway Station and Harwood Bar, because even though some of it was overgrown, it was possible. But for the past sixteen years Martholme Viaduct had been fenced off. This has been a shame, for long sections of the former North Lancs Loop have been turned into pleasant walking and cycling paths, to the west between Martholme and Norden in Rishton, and to the east from Simonstone to Rose Grove. But now the fenced off bit had temporarily reopened, and it was hoped that if land now covered by a caravan park could be obtained the two sections would be joined. The reason given for the closing off of the Grade II listed structure was the outbreak of foot and mouth decease in 2001. The Borough’s MP Graham Jones along with local Councillor, Noordad Aziz, performed the reopening ceremony, before walkers took advantage of the views from above the River Calder. On the railway front the only sign of change is the change of livery on a few of the units which are to be retained, but with the completion of the new depot it would be hoped that we would see some of the new CAF-built units on the East Lancashire Line by the end of the decade. 2018 January On Monday the 8 th , Wednesday the 10 th and Friday the 12 th , Arriva Northern Rail was again striking in the dispute about having no guards on trains. Once again the local coach firms were enjoying a bonanza at the time of year when their businesses are usually slack. The duty coordinator did not have a hi-vis jacket on, which is the usual garb for the job and I was told now the railway operator was using agency staff, rather than those from regular sources. However, he was doing an efficient job and there seemed to be no delays to the schedules, although I thought that fewer people were using the trains in the light of their previous experiences. This meant there was always plenty of room on the vehicles supplied by the two operators I witnessed running the section between Colne to Preston, and Preston to Hebden Bridge. However, one railway service which seemed to continue to operate during the strike days was the one between Blackburn and Wigan Wallgate, which runs via Todmorden and Manchester Victoria. Following an enquiry by our Member of Parliament asking for details on the Colne to Skipton line, which the Skipton East Lancs Rail Action Partnership (SELRAP) were pushing for, I wrote the following letter to him which I had handed over to the Constituency Office on March 28 th , 2012. Dear Graham,

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