Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

June It was reported that the proposed the £1billion development of an East Lancashire Freight Terminal had come nearer to fruition, with the announcement that a ‘feasibility study’ would be initiated to access the costs versus the economic and jobs benefits. The purpose of this is so that a submission containing all these factors can be submitted as a step towards obtaining funding for this project. The site, on part of the former Huncoat Power Station, was previously covered in sidings associated with the handling of coal wagons containing fuel for the adjacent solid fuel generating works. It is thought to be “ideally positioned” in the heart of East Lancashire to serve its aerospace, engineering and manufacturing industries. The arguments being put forward are that by 2050 the amount of freight being carried by rail will have trebled from the meagre 8% carried in 2019. It would also fit in with the government’s ‘levelling up’ plans for the north and would also satisfy the zero-emissions lobby. Organisations listed as pledging their support include Hyndburn’s business leaders, The Department for International Trade, Hyndburn Borough Council, the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership along with the Chamber of Commerce and Transport for the North. Having been treated to Class 66 haulage of the VTG tanker train throughout the past week, including both Jubilee Bank Holidays, on Monday the 6 th , it was back to Class 70 haulage in the form of Colas Rail’s #812. Based in the Globe Centre in the former Howard & Bullough factory, C-Mac itself once involved in supplying transport had been out and about visiting railway installations as part of a Community Rail Weeks event. Throughout the month of May this initiative ran, in order to highlight the part that the 70 Community Rail Partnerships play in engaging local people in the use of their lines and services. In one week they hosted the Rail Study Forum, which included a visit to Accrington Railway Station and a train trip to Blackburn. Guest speakers were Jools Townsend Chief Executive Officer of the Community Rail Network, and Charlene Wallace the Network Rail Director. Townsend stated, “The object of this exercise is to empower people to come together and to support collaboration, by helping the rail industry to respond to local needs”. The prospect of establishing a freight handling terminal on the former Huncoat Power Station Sidings was definitely gaining momentum. Several business leaders had pledged funds to support this initiative. This group includes Hyndburn Council, the East Lancs Chamber of Commerce & Industry, along with The East Lancashire Enterprise Partnership with several others. It had even got the backing of the town’s Conservative Member of Parliament. This injection of cash would enable them to appoint a consultant to launch a ‘feasibility study’ in order to ascertain an economic case for its development. It is claimed that it could bring up to 2,825 new jobs to the area. The project had been estimated at costing £200 millions to complete. It has been predicted that by 2050 the amount of traffic travelling by rail will have trebled from its current level. The 22-acre site had previously been identified for the handling of intermodal (containerised) traffic. This would also be a significant factor in the battle to have the Colne to Skipton section reinstated. As usual Murray Dawson of Amazing Accrington was a driving force on this subject, along with several others. Northern Rail had advised the public not to use the trains during a week of strike action by 50,000 members of the Rail, Maritime & Transport Union, along with other workers including signalmen. There were to be walkouts on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday the 21 st , 23 rd and 25 th , but the advice had been not to travel on Wednesday and Friday the 22 nd and 24 th . Bosses for this operator had stated they would only be able to offer a “very limited service” and that alternative transport arrangements should be sought, whilst the largest dispute on wages and conditions, job cuts and pension rights since 1989 was underway. Northern is not the only operator to be targeted as this is a ‘national’ dispute, with Trans-Pennine another operator in this region to be affected. Some employees state that they have not seen an increase in pay for three years, and whilst there are still shortages of some key workers, the franchise-holders (in this case the Government), still insist they are required to make some redundancies in order to reduce their operating costs. As predicted, there were no trains through Hyndburn on Tuesday, the longest day of the year, and with this government washing its hands of any interventions that might resolve this dispute, it was set to continue through the rest of the week and perhaps beyond. To illustrate just how far apart the two sides are, the General Secretary of the RMT appearing on BBC’s Newsnight, stated that the average wage for his members was £36,600 per year. A spokesperson for the Government put this figure at £44,000 with some drivers earning in excess of £50,000, and that

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