‘City Valley Link’ feasibility funds prompt ELR concerns

Proposal could see heritage railway route shared by local commuter services.

EAST Lancashire Railway vice-president Keith Whitmore says plans that would see the line sharing its route with conventional passenger services are “not a viable option”.

Rossendale Council’s bid for funding to develop its business case for the ‘City

Valley Link’ – which would see regular rail services restored between Rawtenstall, Bury and Manchester for the first time since 1972 – was announced as one of 13 winners in the latest round of the Department for Transport’s Restoring Your Railway scheme.

The council says the plan would allow the ELR to run to a similar timetable to its present one and “would see the retention of the steam age stations and signalling with the role of volunteers protected”.

Mr Whitmore, who is also chairman of Greater Manchester Transport Heritage, told The RM that it had been made

“quite clear” to the authority that such a proposal would not work. He added: “We either have a commuter railway or we have a heritage leisure railway. The two together are just not compatible. That has been consistently said to Rossendale. They also have representation on the [East Lancs Railway]

Trust with Bury and Rochdale Councils and again consistently there they are aware of that situation.”

According to the council, over 50% of employed people in Rossendale commute to destinations outside the borough. With a predicted journey time of around 50 minutes to central Manchester, it estimates the line has the potential to annually reduce car journeys on the A56 and M66 by one to three million.

The authority envisages that the link, which would incorporate an interchange with the Metrolink system at Buckley Wells, just south of Bury, would be relatively low-cost given that infrastructure is already in place.

Much loved asset

Rossendale Council leader Alyson Barnes said: “We value the East Lancs Railway and we would not have supported a solution that damaged the heritage railway, which is a valuable and much loved asset for Rossendale. This really is a possible way forward and further dialogue is needed between the partner organisations.”

The council says it will present study findings to the leaders of Bury and Rochdale Councils, which also own stretches of the ELR, as well as councillors who sit on the board of the ELR Trust.

Mr Whitmore said it was more logical to proceed with separate proposals that could see the creation of a tram-train link at the opposite end of the ELR, linking Heywood to Oldham and Manchester via Castleton.

“I think our main port of call now is to work with Transport for Greater Manchester on the sensible proposals for the other end of the line and really to put this whole nonsense about a non-viable commuter railway to bed once and for all.”

Line and service reinstatement projects also awarded funding in the latest round of Restoring Your Railway are: D arlington Wear dale, Ashton-Stockport, the Middlewichline,T avis tock Plymouth, Gaerwen-Amlwch, Oswestry-Gobowen, Stoke-Leek, the Askern branch, the Don Valley line and Beverley-York. Proposals for reopening Corsham and Stonehouse

Bristol Road stations will receive investment too.