Minister reveals study on reopening rail line
JON MACPHERSON
CAMPAIGNERS in Hyndburn have welcomed a new study commissioned to look into the reopening of a direct railway link between Accrington and Skipton.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has announced a feasibility study into the value of reopening the 12-mile route which closed in 1970 under the Beeching cuts.
However, they have also expressed their ‘disappointment’ and said it ‘falls short of what is required and expected by the residents and businesses of East Lancashire’.
The Observer reported last month how campaigners claimed restoring the link would create new jobs in Hyndburn and help stop the brain drain away from the borough.
Accrington is linked to Colne by rail, but the passenger service currently stops there.
Mr Grayling said: “We are carrying out the biggest investment in the North for a generation and are committed to improving rail links to boost the Northern Powerhouse.
“The historic line between Skipton and Colne could deliver a vital link across the Pennines to boost business and move goods between the east and west much more quickly.
“I want this study to look clearly at the business case and value that the line could provide.”
The study is being commissioned by the Department for Transport and Transport for the North and is due to be completed later this year.
In a statement, the Skipton-East Lancashire Rail Action Partnership (SELRAP) said they were “very happy” with the announcement.
Great Harwood councillor Noordad Aziz, who has been long-standing champion of better transport links between Hyndburn and the rest of the region, welcomed the news, but called on Mr Grayling to go further.
He said: “Although I welcome [the] announcement and visit by Chris Grayling to Colne Station to highlight his commitment to a feasibility study in regards to the Skipton to Colne Rail Link, I think it falls short of what is required and expected by the residents and businesses of East Lancashire.
“I would have hoped the Secretary of State would have matched Labour’s firm commitment in re-establishing the line given the work already been undertaken by the campaign group Skipton East Lancashire Rail Action Partnership (SELRAP) in identifying a need.” MULTI-MILLION pound housing developments are ‘progressing really well’ and will have ‘wider benefits for the council economy’, regeneration bosses claim.
Building work is ongoing for a 75-home ‘Parker Place’ scheme off Parker Street, Rishton.
Planning permission was recently approved for 50 new homes on the former derelict Bridgefield and Britannia Mill sites.
More than 100 homes on Spring Street will soon benefit from external refurbishment as part of Hyndburn council’s housing renewal scheme.
Coun Clare Cleary, the council’s cabinet member for housing and regeneration, said: “Our growth plans are really transforming the Rishton canalside and surrounding area.”
Ward councillor Ken Moss said the Rishton canalside is the ‘up and coming place to be’.