Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

very many, mostly the older generations, are not. It would also impact on the vulnerable and those who have to travel independently. We now have a situation whereby if you board a train without first purchasing a ticket you can be liable to a substantial fine of £100 or more, for on-train staff are no longer authorised to sell tickets as before, just to check them. The fact is that this is just another step in removing paid employees from off the payroll for if you were to retain staff they might as well be behind the glass and continuing in their present capacity. Just as a side note, the ticket machine on Platform 2 at Huncoat Railway Station was out of order on Friday the 14 th , displaying the message, “ please consult staff if you require assistance in purchasing a ticket ”! Not a indication of things to come it is to be hoped. As expected, there had been no trains operating on Thursday the 20 th due to industrial action by the Rail Maritime & Transport Union, who are now to mount a campaign again the proposed massive closure of ticket offices across the North West. As expected it has been confirmed that Accrington Station’s ticket office is on the extensive list of outlets where tickets will not be purchased over the counter in future. Vigorous campaigns against these closures are to be mounted before the public consultation closes on July 27 th , next. The majority of stations on services connected to Accrington are also listed for closure, with only Blackburn so far not included. Colas Rail’s 66:850 named David Maidment OBE , made a return visit through Accrington on Monday the 23 rd , hauling the VTG tanker train to the North East from Preston Docks. It had been previously noted on this service in May 2022. August Hyndburn’s sitting MP has joined in the campaign to retain staff within the ticket office at Accrington Railway Station by writing to Northern to protest about their proposed changes. These would see the facility staffed between 08:00 and mid-day on Mondays to Fridays, 09:00 and 13:00 on Saturdays, but with no staff at all on Sundays. These operatives would then be known as ‘Journey Makers’. It has been revealed that during the post pandemic year of 2021/2022, no less than 385,604 people passed through the station. This figure was expected to rise as more people returned to the trains, and new customers chose the railways for their journeys. The automatic ticket machines, which will be the only way to purchase a ticket, do not accept cash and are ‘card only’, which does not suite many intending passengers especially the elderly. The explanation given by the Chief Operating Officer of Northern, Tricia Williams is, “Only 1 in 6 payments was now made in cash. However, we are creating a more visible customer facing role in order to offer more support to passengers. So no longer will ticket offices be required”. Another issue will be the loss of access to the disabled toilet. Accrington’s prospective Labour candidate Graham Jones had already voiced his protest against this move . With ASLEF continuing with their ban on working overtime and rest days, there would again be some disruption to services over the weekend. However, on Friday the 11 th the Preston Docks to Haverton Hill tanker train was operating behind Colas Rail’s un-named 66:848, (formerly 66:575), even though the locomotive had been regular 70:804 earlier in the week. Early in the following week 66:702 was noted on the early morning eastbound stone wagons. On Friday the 18 th , the loco on the tanker train to the north east from Preston Docks was Colas Rail’s 70:808 with a full load of 12 bogie wagons. On Saturday the 19 th , West Coast Railways were again through Accrington with a special from Lincoln to Blackburn and beyond. The locomotives on this occasion were 57: 601 ‘Windsor Castle’ (formerly 47:825) and 57:313 ‘Scarborough Castle’ (47:371). At approximately 10am on Monday the 21 st , a lorry hit the railway bridge over Market Street in Church. As is usual all train services were suspended until Network Rail had arrived in order to inspect the damage. Northern issued a statement saying that all trains on the Colne  Preston, Blackburn  Rainford and Blackpool North  York services would be delayed or cancelled for up to 30 minutes. However, services were resumed an hour later. It is difficult to understand why this happened as double deck buses had sufficient clearance under the bridge adjacent to Church & Oswaldtwistle Station, when they were operating on the Oswaldtwistle services. There are also signs in yellow and black chevrons indicating the maximum clearances through the roadway.

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