Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

Then, right out of the blue on Thursday, the 28 th , the Government had announced that they were waving the stipulation contained in the franchise agreement that 50% of all trains should be run as DOO by Northern Rail, with a guarantee that there would always be a second person on the train. It had been a long-running and acrimonious dispute and the puzzling thing was that when MerseyRail had this similar divergence of opinion with the Union on their new trains, an agreement was negotiated. Why the criteria of this settlement could not have been used as a basis for Northern Rail’s new stock is something of a conundrum? Whether unconnected or not, my regular co-ordinator had told me that her regular task on strike weekends has been changed at the last moment, to one she is not prepared to undertake as it involves a very early start (05:50) and does not end until late (21:50) with a five hour hiatus in the middle, whereas before she started at 09:30 and finished at 17:50. Although I was informed that Northern Rail’s Blackburn Train Maintenance Depot was open and operational, on Friday the 29 th , I decided to investigate this theory, only to find it was no more than just a stabling point for units not required for service. Very few of the roads were occupied and those which were contained only the much maligned 142 sets, identified as 089 and 140. December According to the spokesman for the RMT they were prepared to call off the industrial action scheduled for Saturday the 1 st , the thirty-eighth, on the grounds of what the Government was conceding to them about Driver Only Operated trains. However, having made this offer to Northern Rail, it appears that it was too late to put measures into place for trains to run, or they were digging their heels in to prove a senseless point. So yet again coaches/buses were replacing trains on the majority of Northern Rail’s services. Despite the developments on the Driver Only Operated trains front, Saturday, the 8 th was still a day bedevilled by industrial action, which witnessed only about 30% of Northern Rail’s trains operating, and the usual bus and coach replacement services appearing. Perhaps the fact that another new timetable was scheduled to come into operation from Sunday, the 9 th , was the reason for the delay in trying to get a ‘normal’ service back on the rails, or maybe the German run management of Arriva had decided there was to be no surrender? The strikes would continue on the 15 th , 22 nd and 29 th . Regardless of the turmoil that Arriva Northern Rail was experiencing, they were still progressing plans for their new services, when the much-maligned 142 units were finally withdrawn. Latest repaints into the company livery were Class 150s #120 and #143, and Class 156:423. Their ‘digital’ refurbishment of Class 158s has continued with 2-car 158:849 following 158:845 out of the works. These now had interiors to the same standards and seating arrangements of the new CAF units, and it was Northern Rail’s intention to have all its DMUs still in service upgraded to this specification by 2020. Having had a diet of Class 70s on the VTG tanker train on Wednesday, the 12 th , it was back in the hands of double-headed Class 56s. By Friday the 14 th , a Class 70 was again in charge. The Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling, had at last admitted that his department was in part responsible for the chaos which had pertained throughout the year, and he stated that in future more money would be invested in transport for the north than will be spent in London and the South East. Of course this gives no indication of what will be available to invest in the north’s infrastructure, only that it will exceed that of the other areas of the country. An insider had told me that this mythical institution, The Northern Powerhouse, had grand ideas but alas little or no funding with which to embark on even the most modest of projects. However, yet again CrossRail was to receive another £1·5 billions to complete that project. It had started at £14·6 billions, then had gone up to £15·4 billions and with this latest infusion would now reach £16·9 billions. With all the turmoil and confusion over Brexit, it appears as though the promised feasibility study on the Colne to Skipton reinstatement promised before the end of the year would now not appear. For the first time in several weeks I ventured down to Accrington Railway Station in order to pick up a couple of the ‘new’ timetables and see what the situation was. There was a surprise in that no co ordinators were on duty, and the reason was soon clear. There was only one service per hour between Colne and Blackburn and absolutely no service at all across the Pennines, which meant that it was unnecessary to have anyone to instruct passengers. The anonymous coach, with no legal lettering apparent, arrived and the driver waited to the appointed time having dropped off a couple and loaded one, before closing the door and moving off.

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