Railway Reopening Campaign Gains Momentum for Lancashire Yorkshire Link

A group wants to reopen the Colne to Skipton railway. This could mean faster trains between Lancashire and Yorkshire. They are holding their annual meeting in Colne soon.

A Network Rail director will speak at the meeting and will talk about other railway lines that reopened. SELRAP invited Mike Smith from Network Rail. This included lines in Dartmoor and Northumberland.

SELRAP announced they will talk with a transport minister too. The Northumberland Line reopened in December 2024. It had seven new stations and fifty thousand journeys happened the first month.

The Dartmoor Line reopened in 2021 after nine months of work. SELRAP had talks last autumn, and they felt hopeful about reopening the line. The 12-mile link closed in the 1970s. It connects Yorkshire and Lancashire.

Now, much of the line near Colne has single tracks, and there are limited trains to Blackburn and Preston. The line stops at Colne now. Most of the old track remains to Skipton.

Campaigners want a new station in Earby near Barnoldswick. They also want faster train services that could reach Blackpool, Preston, and Liverpool. They could extend to Keighley, Bradford, Leeds, and Hull. They feel transport limits hurt poorer areas.

Drax supports the campaign because of freight needs. The East Lancashire Chamber and Skipton Building Society also support it.

Steve Broadbent spoke at a SELRAP meeting last year. He said the link could be a priority. He noted that running a line aids deprived areas cheaply. He thinks Manchester rail work helps the Skipton link’s case, and that efforts to limit shutdowns strengthens the case further.

Jane Wood spoke about the meeting and said they would update members on progress. Robbie Moore MP requested a meeting about SELRAP. Heidi Alexander, a minister, agreed to meet.

The government supports projects like a new line to Cambridge. They also back a third runway at Heathrow. Some wonder about northern projects. A campaign focuses on a Skelmersdale rail line, as Skelmersdale lacks a rail link. Morecambe and Lancaster also want rail investment to support the Eden Project. Rossendale also wants connections to Manchester.