Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

any additional periods of time would be at the discretion of the then Contracting Authority. They would have the powers to veto any direct award to a franchise holder, or to choose a private operator by another means. Meanwhile, a system called ‘Payit’ would allow passengers to receive immediate refunds due from Northern payed directly into their bank accounts. This initiative had been designed in conjunction with NatWest Bank. This was not the only new system to be tested on Northern’s trains, as they were piloting the ‘Unwell Passenger app’ to ensure a quicker response to a situation if a passenger fell ill on a journey. This experiment was being funded to the tune of £300,000 by Innovate UK, to identify the location of the train with a sick person on board. On Monday the 8 th , the VTG tanker train was behind 56:105 piloting 56:090, whilst the Preston to Leeds service was being operated by 195:118. The movement of locomotives between Balm Road in Leeds and Crewe Gresty Road continued in the afternoon, with Freightliner 66:508 hauling 90:047 with 66:520 sandwiched in between. The 90 was in the orange/yellow/black livery of the electric engines. On the Preston to Colne service was 150:118. Since the withdrawal of the 142:xxx sets, there has been a marked improvement on the standard of stock employed by Northern, with refurbished 158:xxx, and 156:xxx units to the fore along with the 150:xxx. The cross-Pennine route is now almost exclusively in the hands of 195 units, usually 1 x a three-car 195:1xx or sometimes 2 x 195:0xx coupled together. Due to coupling problems with Direct Rail Services Class 37s, on Monday the 15 th , 37:402 passed through Accrington light engine heading for York from Crewe. Retaining its British Railways, large logo livery, and still carrying its Scotty Dog on the sides from its days north of the border, it currently carried the name ‘ Stephen Middlemore – 23/12/54 - 8/6/13 ’. This engine was new in April, 1965 as number D6974 it also carried TOPS number 37:274. It had also previously carried two nameplates, ‘ Oor Wullie ’ when in Scotland and ‘ Bont Y Bermo ’ when working in Wales. After an absence of a week the VTG tanker train was on the move again on Monday the 22 nd . On this occasion the locomotive was 70:817. At 23:15 on the evening of the 25 th , the Track Testing Train topped by 37:175 and tailed by 37:099 passed through Accrington going east, en route between Carnforth and Longsight in Manchester. The whole consist in the yellow livery of the departmental services. The final Monday of the month saw the VTG train back to double-headed haulage, behind Colas Rail’s 56:090 piloting 56:105 back from Preston Docks to Lindsey Refinery. In another Council debate, once again calls had been made to lobby the DfT to put pressure on Northern to have the trains on the Blackburn  Manchester (and beyond) service, to include Rishton Station as a stop on the route. This was passed by the Council after it was raised by Cllr Kate Walsh. On Easter Sunday April 4 th , the West Coast Mainline was closed in the North West for engineering works, as a result of which a works train was obliged to travel over the East Lancs Line to get from Balshaw Lane near Euxton to return to Basford Hall in Crewe. In the early evening this passed through Accrington topped by Freightliner’s 66:554 and tailed by 66:548. April Over the evening/night of Thursday the 8 th , the track measuring train was through Accrington again heading back east just after midnight. From Monday the 12 th , Northern was increasing the number of trains they were to operate to reflect an easing of the current lockdown restrictions. They had also recruited a number of extra staff, in order to sanitise the more exposed parts within the stock whilst out in service. Once again speculative plans had been touted on the reinstatement of the Colne to Skipton section. They appeared quite detailed and very ambitious. The Skipton East Lancashire Rail Action Partnership (SELRAP), originated on April 10 th , 2001. It held its inaugural meeting in Colne, where the objectives were clearly defined; to reinstate the line connecting Colne with Skipton. Now it appeared, after much lobbying and manoeuvring this objective was further advanced than at any time previously. It is recognised that there were several obstacles to overcome and these have been highlighted as – 1. To go beneath the Skipton By-pass, to the west of the town. 2. To construct a new bridge over the River Aire. 3. To divert the main road to the east of Earby, to illuminate the necessity for a level crossing.

4. To build a new bridge over the Leeds & Liverpool Canal in Foulridge. 5. To divert Vivary Way on Colne to go underneath the railway line.

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