Campaigners aiming to restore the missing link between Skipton and Colne meet in Parliament on November 3rd to take part in discussions about reopening the line between the two towns.
Members from the Skipton–East Lancashire Rail Action Partnership (SELRAP), local businesses, and public transport supporters met with Rt Hon Sir Julian Smith KCB CBE MP, along with MP Robbie Moore and MP Jonathan Hinder.
The discussions centred around the importance of restoring the line, which was closed in 1970. SELRAP, established in 2001, is a campaign that promotes reconnecting the line between Skipton and Colne.
With the line reconnected, it will enable passengers to travel directly from Skipton to Leeds via Colne, reducing current journey times to under one hour. It will also create a fourth east-west route across the Pennines, which will enable a new artery for freight services and provide a useful alternative route for trains if one of the existing lines is temporarily closed for line upgrades or engineering works.
Reconnecting the ‘missing link’ will create new jobs, boost economic growth, and provide a faster, greener mode of transport in the north of England.
Several businesses back the scheme, including Northern Trains, Skipton Building Society, Drax and Peel Ports.
Following the Network North announcement in 2023, part of the government’s plans to spend £36bn on transport infrastructure across the North of England. Campaigners in favour of restoring the Skipton to Colne Line called for similar investment in semi-rural and rural areas of the North.
Earlier this year, the restoration of the line was not mentioned in the spring spending review. MPs and locals agreed to lobbying efforts at the local levels to increase support for the reconnection of the Colne to Skipton line.
“Reopening the Skipton–Colne line is a vital step toward improving transport infrastructure in non-metro regions like North Yorkshire and Lancashire. Today’s meeting demonstrated strong cross-party commitment to making this happen. The SELRAP team presented a compelling case for restoring the Skipton to Colne rail link, which could unlock significant economic growth across North Yorkshire and Lancashire.”
Rt Hon Sir Julian Smith KCB CBE MP
Responses
The route from Clitheroe to Hellifield should have reopened on the 11th of April 1989 when the Transport Minister Paul Channon refused British Railway from Closing the Line along with the Settle to Carlisle route, and that services should be fully reinstated to both lines. So going off that trains should have been running from Blackburn to Hellifield for the last 36 years. Network Rail has to legally keep the whole line in full mainline working order. The problem comes with Northern, who have chosen only to provide a service to Clitheroe despite instructions from Government to fully reopen it. Northern did look at reopening the route but wanted to run some trains through from Clitheroe to Ribblehead and then reverse at Blea Moor, but doing that would cause pathing problems for other existing passenger and freight services so the reopening was dropped, in all probability on purpose, they did say that they could not reverse at Hellifield due to the track layout (funny how a steam engine can do it). There is actually a far simpler idea which I did put to Northern but had no meaningful reply and that was to reverse at Hellifield (from speaking with Network Rail this is totally feasible and permissible movement), the cost would be around £50 for a limit of shunt sign. Northern could with just one extra DMU unit run every train pass Cliteroe to Hellifield and reverse and return back to Cliteroe allowing 1 hour and it would have no effects further south or up at Hellifield. The Passengers could connect to trains going north or south. This is the Cheapest rail reopening in the UK, but Northern don’t want to do it.
This reopening has been talked about for years, and rumours just keep rumbling along about it, but this appears in the main to be hot air. Yes it would be nice to reopen the line from Skipton to Colne, but in real terms the reopening works would have to extend to Gannon/Copy Pit Junction west of Burnley as the current open section is only single line and would need to be doubled in order to give a good degree of service.This would also entail the rebuilding of stations along the way along with work to bridges. To get out of Colne you would have to tunnel or lift up the main A56 road, forcing traffic through the town centre and other local routes, which would cause major problems. When you get to Earby a lot of local housing sits right next to the railway and would cause problems if built to the original route, then you have the problem of crossing the A56 which could only be done with a level crossing, Network rail is trying to reduce the number of these. If you went a more northerly route they you would have to take a wide curve around Earby, putting a station out in the country. Part of the line from Earby to Skipton has been built on, which would have to be rerouted around or demolished. Then you get to the River Arie flood plane which would have to be crossed taking a slightly more northerly route in order to make a junction with the line at Skipton. £23.1 million is actually wrong and the cost would be more like £231 million and probably more as the whole East Lancashire Line electrified to Preston so no change of train would have to be made at Skipton. There are other factors that people don’t realise and that is a lot of traffic goes to Colne and it’s outlying areas and only a small portion goes to Skipton and Keighley, the local buses that go there are are only lightly used, so currently there is little real demane. Any through traffic i.e. Preston to Leeds would also be competing with current services and would only hope to pick up passengers from Burnley Central eastwards, coming eastwards may pick up more passengers. In fact getting the current York to Blackpool and return trains to stop at Rose Grove would provide the same level of service, and that is the real problem and sounds like an idea from the days of railwaymania.
There are many places where restoration of a closed railway would be welcome . Such as a through service from Doncaster to Barnsley …2 of the largest centers of population in South Yorkshire .. but to travel between by train is both slow for the distance involved and rather I convenient. Likewise try going from Barnsley westwards towards Manchester ….
Uckfield to Lewis most likely should never of been closed …but it was .. and there is continue debate for reopening. So Colne – Skipton just joins a long list .. and I suspect we’ll down that list Reinstatement of a through passenger service from Blackburn to Skipton (reversal at Hellifield is very easy to deliver) and at a fraction of the cost of some fantasy reopening idea. With everything in life it is necessary to be realistic .. what is achievable at a satisfactory cost. As far as I can see Colne is nothing special it lost its through passenger service in the 1970s just like Matlock did in the late 1960s . And places like Buckingham and Lutterworth lost everything . The people of Colne need to be thankful that under the 1970s closure the Colne line wasn’t closed in its entirety .
Not mentioned in a spending review because simply this idea just doesn’t fly with an credibility . As there is a much simpler and cheaper option. That is a curve at Hellifield and reinstate passenger services from Clitheroe towards Hellifield ….round the new curve and on to Skipton .. 1 simple curve is all that is needed and this fantasy idea can be dumped
The idea you present only concentrates on the line already running from Blackburn and, there lies the problem as it would then ignore the benefits to those living between Blackburn, Accrington, Nelson and Colne and surrounding regions. So for these areas to meet modern environmental status there needs to be the proposed SELREP connection between Colne and Skipton. This proposal also directly links Skipton and further West Yorkhire regions with the Colne Valley.
With new costings of lines reconstructions becoming recently available; the 18.5 Km lines would cost £23.1m. Fortunately both terminal stations already exist.
The future possibility of the line passing blissfully Thornton Cricket Club with cricketers playing ,brings to mind old 1950/60´s railway film scenes with John Betjeman. The only thing missing is the support and infrastructure from a Heritage Steam Railway.