Light at the end of the tunnel for bid to reopen historic railway line
MEASURING 11-AND-A-HALF miles from end to end, it represents little more than a thousandth of the length of the UK’s total rail network.
But the line between Skipton in North Yorkshire and Colne in Lancashire has been the subject of years of determined efforts to bring it back into use since being closed in February 1970.
As well as making it harder for people in Lancashire to reach Skipton for work, and vice versa, the lack of a rail link between the two nearby towns creates a missing link that limits the East-West transport connections the North needs to thrive.
But now, thanks to the lobbying work of the Skipton East Lancashire Rail Action Partnership (SELRAP), which formed in 2001, there could be light at the end of the tunnel in the battle to return the line to its former glory.
Campaigners were joined at a Westminster meeting by representatives from rail and council officials, as well as Labour and Tory MPs and major businesses who back the reopening of the line.
They received encouragement from officials at Transport for the North and came away feeling confident that the project, which would cost £100m, will be included in its strategic transport plan next year.
This would mean the reopening would be presented to the Government as a strategic priority for boosting the region’s economic growth, a potentially vital step in opening up sources of funding and securing private investment.
Andy Shackleton, of SELRAP, said: “We really do believe this could be a turning point for the campaign.”
Keighley MP John Grogan, who was at the meeting, said: “For about £100m and 11-anda-half miles of new track the nation could achieve a new trans-Pennine rail link.”