Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

the union were stalling in returning to the negotiating table. This prompted a reaction from the General Secretary that this representative of the Conservatives was in fact “a liar”, a charge which he repeated on several occasions. The train driver’s Union. ASLEF was of course not (as yet) involved in this dispute. With the expectation that the talks reconvened for Wednesday the 22 nd , might result in a positive conclusion, it was already too late to call off Thursday’s strike action. However, if talks did prove successful an undertaking was given that by Saturday normal services would be resumed. On Wednesday, even though not a strike day, there were only 23 services listed as passing through Accrington, compared to the usual 90-plus on a normal weekday. The strike was held again on Thursday with no trains operating on the East Lancs Line, a situation repeated on Saturday the 25 th . However, there were 72 services running on Friday, including the VTG tanks, again hauled by 70:812. The industrial action was then suspended for the time being at least, with the prospect that if no satisfactory agreement can be reached, more industrial action will follow during the summer. Hyndburn, along with Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale are set to receive money from the Government’s ‘Levelling Up Fund’, if a bid by Lancashire County Council for £50 millions is successful. The projects at which this cash will be targeted are; - • A new pedestrian footbridge connecting the platforms at Accrington Railway Station. • With lifts to both platforms • 115 Priority bus stops incorporating real-time displays and audio announcements. • 116 Priority traffic lights at 20 locations to assist in speeding up bus journeys. There was some locomotive action on the East Lancs Line right at the end of the month. On Wednesday the 29 th , the Northern Belle was through en route from Carnforth to Norwich. The motive power was provided by a usual combination of 57:313 and 57:314. In the late evening of Thursday the 30 th , the Track Measuring Train was through behind 37:421 and 37:175. It returned west during the early hours on the following day. July Following the industrial action, train services had returned to the time-tabled schedules, with only a few cancellations due to shortages of staff. The VTG tanker train, which runs on an ‘as required’ basis, had also made an appearance behind Colas Rail’s #70:814. A mini-heatwave hit the country on Monday the 18 th , causing major disruption to train services across the land. However, those which are part of Northern’s network were more affected on the eastern side of the Pennines. On Tuesday the 19 th , all the advice being dispensed by train operators was, not to travel unless it was absolutely necessary. Although some delays and cancellations would be inevitable, there were still 82 scheduled passenger train services through Accrington. This explanation given was, “Our railways are engineered to operate between -10º and +35º Celsius, and on this occasion the higher temperature has been exceeded by some margin”. The situation had improved marginally on Wednesday, although it has to be said that the services on the East Lancs Line had witnessed very little disruption compared to others. The VTG tanker train was back operating behind Colas Rail’s #70:814 again. It was expected that services would return to normal by the end of the week. Although still in progress, the work to improve the ramp access to Platform 1 from the Paxton Street side of the Railway Station is far from complete. It had been closed from May the 9 th , when this work commenced. If funding were to be provided for the installation of lifts and a new footbridge as has been suggested, then this work would be less relevant and access from that side almost un-necessary. After a long period of inactivity there were engineering trains on the move on Saturday the 23 rd . This time the movements were between Crewe Basford Hall Sidings and Stalybridge and were being hauled by GB Railfreight (GBRf) locomotives. The first of two movements passed through Accrington at 09:43 heading east and consisted of 66:771 ‘Amanda’ and 21 low bogie wagons containing sand and new ballast. The second followed on at 20:00 with 66:763 with a 600 ton load of new concrete sleepers, ready clipped to receive the rails. This loco was named ‘Severn Valley Railway’. These locos are maintained at the Roberts Road Maintenance Depot in Doncaster. Also noted was DMU 156:415 on the Colne service, still in ‘as obtained’ East Midlands livery, one recently brought into the Northern stock. August It appears as though Colas Rail’s 70:812 is now the locomotive dedicated to hauling the VTG tanks, as it has now been on this Preston Docks to Lindsey Oil Terminal duty for several weeks. On Monday the 8 th , the load was 13 bogie tank wagons.

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