Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

weekend and into Monday. The strikes which were also due later in the week were also postponed in order to allow talks to reconvene between the Unions and the operators, in order to come to an agreed settlement. Essential engineering work on the East Lancs Line around Blackburn, would see all trains replaced by buses/coaches on four consecutive weekends. There would be ‘Rail Replacement Services’ on Saturdays and Sundays the 12 th & 13 th , the 19 th & 20 th and the 26 th & 27 th of November, ending on the 3 rd & 4 th of December. On one day I was able to speak with one of the people sent to oversee the loading and unloading of intended passengers, which gave me an insight into how this work was proving difficult. She explained that she would be finished by three in the afternoon and the ticket office would be closed at four, so there would be no-one there to oversee the exchange of passengers for the remainder of the day. They would therefore be left to their own devices! She went on to say that there has been difficulty in recruiting responsible people to take on this work, as the pay is less than attractive for the hours worked. She also stated that coach operators are also proving difficult to obtain, as the rising cost of fuel has made it less lucrative to undertake. However, in the short space of time I was able to observe these operations. No doubt due to the fact that we had now entered the part of the year when maintenance engineering work is taking place on the railways, several associated trains will appear in the area. On the evening of Tuesday the 15 th , one such train came through, en route from Grangemouth in Scotland to Gascoigne Woods between Leeds and Selby. It was double-headed by two of West Coast Railways Class 37s, 668 and 685 which were unusually hauling 22 chemical tanker wagons for the Ineas Company. These locos are more frequently seen on West Coast’s ‘special’ Passenger excursions. Although the VTG tanker train has been noted for its absence now for two weeks, Colas Rail has at least made an appearance through Accrington. On Thursday the 17 th , at about midnight the Railhead Measurement Train passed through going east behind double-headed Class 37s 37:254 and 37:099. It returned during the early hours of Friday morning. On the second Saturday of the Rail Replacement Services, some of the operators who had provided vehicles were again on duty. Northern Rail had joined up with Blackpool Transport to provide transport all along the coast from Star Gate to Fleetwood (or other destinations served by the operator). Travellers would be able to use proof of their journey to the resort in order to use the buses and more especially the trams to continue their onward journeys. Regional Director for Northern Rail Chris Jackson, had described this initiative as, “A way for our customers to make their journeys easier”. Because the barriers at Blackpool North swallow up tickets in order to exit the station, some method must have been devised to verify that the journey to Blackpool was made on a Northern Service. With the connections in place from the junction in front of the North Pier, up Talbot Road to the station due to be opened when the hotel adjacent to the station is completed, this would provide a much needed transfer from one mode of transport to another. In the very early hours of Friday the 15 th , the empty stock of a West Coast Railways excursion passed through Hyndburn on its way back to Carnforth, topped and tailed by 57:313 and 47:832. Earlier it had travelled from Leeds to Oxford (for Blenheim Palace), picking up en route before its return to Yorkshire. The cost of this trip fully inclusive of meals/drinks was in the region of £420 per person. With no satisfactory resolution in sight the RMT had announced there would be a series of 48 hour strikes two in December and two more in the New Year. ASLEF the train drivers union had called a 24-hour strike for Saturday the 26 th , as a result of which, even the ‘rail replacement services were not operating. One must assume that there is an agreement that nothing will run during days when industrial action is taking place. However, on Sunday coaches were again replacing trains due to the on-going engineering works. December For the first time for several weeks the Colas Rail VTG tanker train made an appearance on Friday the 1 st , behind 70:813. Although scheduled to run ‘as required’ it is possibly the longest hiatus for quite some time. With the news that the remaining Class 56s are to be withdrawn, with the remaining ones converted to the new Class 69s, it is unlikely that they will be seen on this (or other) local workings in the future. Saturday the 3 rd and Sunday the 4 th , was the final weekend of the Rail Replacement Services on the East Lancs Line. The person in charge of stewarding, co-ordinating or organising the safe transfer of passengers in a very efficient way, was none to complimentary about his current employer Arriva. With

514