CravenRail The newsletter for supporters of SELRAP: - the Skipton-East Lancashire Rail Action Partnership Issue 11 Summer 2008 “After meeting with Tom Harris, the Rail Minister, my understanding is that the Government has no objection to the reopening of disused rail lines, provided that the economic case stacks up” ..... Brian Simpson MEP & Socialist Group Spokesman Transport/Tourism. “And a recently-published study carried out by JMP Consulting demonstrates beyond doubt that there is a sound economic case for reopening the Skipton-Colne line. So it can only be a matter of time before the contractors move in!”..... Ed. MISSING LINK II: Skipton 2008 NEW STUDY EXTRA MILES TO BRINGS BRIDGE THE GAP SKIPTON- COLNE RAIL LINK CLOSER STILL Colne 2008 Skipton-East Lancashire Rail Action Partnership RECONNECTING YOUR REGION Patrons: Richard Bannister, Rt Rev. Nicholas Reade, MPs David Curry, Nigel Evans, Gordon Prentice, Kitty Ussher, MEPs Chris Davies, Den Dover, Timothy Kirkhope, Diana Wallis. 2 SELRAP’s campaign to reopen the Skipton-Colne rail- way continues to redefine the boundaries of what is Contents achievable by a voluntary group. The business of re- opening a railway has been likened to pushing a boulder uphill. But driven by a passion to replace just FRONT COVER” a tiny part of a transport network trashed in the dash As yet another high pro- for modernity forty years ago, the group is increas- file demonstration of the need to reopen the line ingly hitting the high notes. And, thanks to the vast between Colne and Skip- amount of work willingly undertaken by SELRAP’s ton, SELRAP’s second charter train, “The Miss- dedicated team, there’s a growing feeling amongst ing Link II” followed a Joe Public and his next door neighbour that it really 135 mile circular route via Blackburn and Helli- has become a question of when the railway reopens, field ..... before return- and not if. ing via Leeds, Bradford and Hebden Bridge. The train is shown shortly All of that said, it remains a fact that there are those after arrival in Skipton. who, incredulous at the prospect of returning a rail- AND TO THE RIGHT: Focussing on the busi- way to the region, find it difficult to get beyond im- ness case for the Skip- ages of steam trains, derelict track ..... and tales of ton-Colne railway, publication of the JMP the railways as they were years ago. Before bloody Skipton: October 28th 2007. And a peek into the future. study has brought its re- Beeching wiped away connection with the rest of the The train now standing at platform 3 is the 11.37 from Colne. opening closer still. nation for thousands of communities. But it is images such as these that drive those at the MAKING A DIFFERENCE heart of SELRAP’s campaign to reinstate the Skipton- SELRAP’s campaign goes from strength to strength ..... Colne railway. And whilst being a stark reminder of and continues to break the mould. what has been lost to the region, those images also offer a crucial window on future. For it is a fact that 3 COMMENT almost forty years on from closure of the Skipton- On just how an early Victorian sized rail network copes Colne line, there are many for whom the notion of with 21st century demands. joined up transport to the rest of the nation is simply not an option. Together with the widely acknowl- HEADLINES edged economic, social and environmental benefits 4 JUST FOR THE RECORD that rail services bring to the communities they serve. How it was fifty 4 2007: WHAT A YEAR years ago. Joined up transport at Earby (mid way be- 5 A CHANGE IN THE WIND tween Skipton & Colne) ..... showing NEWS a BR Standard Class 2 Tank Engine in 5 MISSING LINK II GOES EXTRA MILES charge of a local train. 6 ECONOMIC CASE STACKS UP Photo: Courtesy of 7 STUDY LAUNCHED Barry Atkinson 8 BETTER STILL 9 YET MORE HEAR OF SELRAP 9 HITTING THE HEADLINES How it is ..... the trackbed between Thornton in 9 CATALOGUE OF SUPPORT GROWS Craven and El- slack in remark- able ondition ..... 10 NEW PATRON and seemingly ready for the re- 10 SELRAP IN WESTMINSTER turn of rails. But wait ..... 11 KILBRIDE Isn’t that a train waiting for rails 11 NEW INITIATIVES too! WHAT ELSE Increasingly regarded as one of the UK’s most high profile rail reopening pressure groups, SELRAP sees 11 EXPANDING ON NOSTALGIA beyond the images above, and to the return of a rail- way designed to serve the wider needs of the 21st 12 JOIN US: MEMBERSHIP FORM century, together with its changing demographics. 12 SELRAP CONTACT DETAILS To this end, SELRAP continues to engage with those 12 WHAT NEXT at the highest level. And following publication of the highly acclaimed JMP study into the business case for 12 HOW YOU CAN HELP the line, SELRAP is pursuing an action plan aimed at all levels of Government, the rail industry, and more. 12 EVENTS SELRAP: breaking the mould, and making a difference 12 MEETINGS SCHEDULE to transport! Comment 3 Reduced to a network no bigger than it was 150 years ago, many rail routes are now up to capacity, whilst the loss of strategic links such as the Skipton- Colne line ensures that others remain dysfunctional. Time travellers turning back the clock 150 years would find life very different to their own. Visitors would step from their Tardis into a steam driven revolution busily transforming a largely rural economy into the world’s first industrialised nation. But what has any of this got to do with SELRAP’s campaign to reopen the Skipton- Colne railway line? For surely the far-off world of 1858 is something that took place then. And SELRAP’s campaign to reopen a disused railway is now. Yet it is a fact that without effective transport none of that economic growth could have taken place. And despite the passage of years nothing has changed on that score. For it also remains a fact that neither raw material nor labour is of value until the two can be brought together. And their outcome transported to a point of sale. History reveals that the nation’s economy has always been a reflection of its trans- port infrastructure, be it packhorse track, turnpike road or canal. And, unable to cope with the demand for growth, in turn each was usurped. Thus, by 1858 a 10,000 mile [and growing] network of railway lines was servicing the needs of a rap- idly developing industrial economy. Funny thing, history. For, alongside the assertion that it offers a window on the future, it also has a habit of laying down land mines ready to rear up unexpectedly in our faces. Sadly, ongoing examples of the latter are to be found the world over. Closer to home, fifty years ago the UK was embracing modernity with a will. Teenagers, pop music, indoor bathrooms. Supermarkets and tower blocks. A brave vision of a brand new economy. Concrete. Cortinas. And empty roads to drive them on. Together with the prospect of industrial estates and out of town shopping centres trailing in the wake of the motorway. At the start of the era briefly outlined above, almost 20,000 miles of railway lines still linked most parts of the country. And few were far from their national transport network. I guess that hindsight is a wonderful facility. But the fact remains that in economic, environmental and social terms, fifty years on, land mines that oversaw the loss of a once-complete rail network are doing exactly what it said on the box. Our highway network is slowly choking on its own success. As worsening road con- gestion results in longer and unpredictable journeys for both passenger and freight. And the cost to the nation of all those delays? £20 billion per year. Roughly trans- lating to a congestion charge of £330 for each and every one of us. So what’s the answer? Innovative and proactive Government policies aimed at a dramatic increase in the use of rail transport. That should fix it. But hang on. A rail network of 10,000 miles. Isn’t that where we came in? On an early Victorian rail network tasked with servicing the needs of a population yet to reach 25 million. Set to the backdrop of a modern economy supporting a population of 60 million, FIT FOR PURPOSE. OR HISTORY WAIT- questions concerning the fitness for purpose of a rail network no bigger than it was ING TO REAR UP IN OUR FACES? 150 years ago beg to be asked. The more so when those much-vaunted increases The upper map shows an approxima- in both passenger and freight traffic are factored into the equation. Together with tion of the 10,000 mile UK rail network as it was in 1858. The major industri- the fact that demand is artificially regulated by fares said to be the highest in the alised regions were already connected, world. Imagine the demand for rail travel if regular fare structure was transparent, but more rural areas waited until later in the century for their rail services. coherent ..... and equated to ordinery folks’ ability to pay. At a stroke, much of NB. Skipton-Colne (opened 1848) line current car use would wind up a no-brainer. But I imagine it would need a policy! arrowed. The centre map shows the network as Longer trains for half of the nation who already enjoy the luxury of a rail service is a it was 50 years ago, when almost commendable notion.