Lancashire News, 25th July 2024
Re-opening the Colne to Skipton railway link to enable new fast train services between east Lancashire, Bradford and Leeds, must be looked at urgently by Pendle's new MPs and the Labour government, councillors have been told.
And the Skipton East Lancashire Rail Action Partnership (SELRAP) campaign group, which wants the link reopened, should be involved in talks with the area's new MPs too. The call came at Pendle Council's latest full meeting when councillors considered priorities for the borough following Labour's victory in the July 4 general election and the council's relationships with the area's two brand new Labour MPs, Jonathan Hinder and Oliver Ryan.
Mr Hinder represents the new constituency of Pendle & Clitheroe while Mr Ryan represents Burnley including Brierfield, which is in the borough of Pendle. The Colne to Skipton railway link was closed in the early 1970s. But today campaigners including various councils, politicians, the SELRAP group and business leaders want it reconnected.
They say the whole of east Lancashire including Pendle, Hyndburn and Burnley would particularly benefit from better rail connections to West Yorkshire's big cities along with better links to Preston and western Lancashire. They say east Lancashire's economy, jobs market, education, property values and leisure opportunities all suffer from poor railway links. The current stretch at Colne, Nelson and Brierfield is mainly just a single track which further restricts the number of train services, they say.
In contrast, lines connecting Skipton to Leeds and Bradford, and also north to the Settle-Carlisle line are multi-track with regular, well-used trains, they say. And key sections to Leeds and Bradford are also electrified with modern electric trains from Skipton. Lib-Dem Coun Tom Whipp raised the topic at Pendle Council's latest full meeting. It came as councillors discussed priorities for the council with the new Labour government.
Coun Whipp said: "One of the key things we need is the re-opening of the Colne to Skipton rail line. It's imperative that we meet the new MPs and get this discussed as soon as possible. I think we should also commit the council to supporting the re-opening and create a meeting with SELRAP to discuss how the campaign can be supported. It could be years or months, depending if we get support from the government."
Fellow Lib-Dem Coun David Whipp, who is the deputy leader of Pendle Council, had drawn up a motion calling on the new Labour MPs to lobby the government as early as possible to boost funding for the council. He and other councillors said Pendle Council's funding had been cut by 60 or even 70 per cent over the austerity years of the previous Conservative government.