Government: decision on Colne-Skipton line re-opening imminent following £1m feasibility study

Yesterday afternoon in the House of Lords, Lord Greaves called on the Government to make the proposed new rail route across the north of England - which includes reopening the Colne to Skipton line - a priority, prompting the Transport Minister in the Lords, Baroness Liz Sugg, to promise "an announcement on it shortly”.

“This really is crunch time for re-opening the line from Colne to Skipton," said Lord Greaves. "SELRAP [Skipton East Lancashire Rail Action Partnership] have done a wonderful job over the years keeping the dream alive. Now, linked with this plan for a new high-standard trans-Pennine freight route, the dream is alive.”

Before Christmas, Baroness Sugg confirmed that the feasibility study - which is reported to have cost the Government nearly £1m - had been completed and submitted to the Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling, who has recently come under fire for awarding a £13.8m Brexit ferry contract to Seaborne Freight, a company without any ferries.

“If this major new freight route across the north of England is built, it will provide a route from Liverpool docks, via Skipton-Colne, to Leeds and Yorkshire, up the east coast main line and to the Yorkshire coast and to Drax," said Lord Greaves, who is also a member of Pendle Borough Council. "Is this not a scheme that, at a fraction of the cost of any new major scheme in the south-east or London, could provide a major freight route across the north of England within three or four years?

“If we want our railway service back and a fast service from Burnley through to the Aire Valley and Leeds, this is the way to get it," he continued. "We have to be hard-headed about this. The campaigners at SELRAP are involved at the heart of this project and they deserve all the support we can give.

"Everyone must work together on this.”