The Joint Clitheroe Line and East Lancashire Line Community Rail Partnerships held their regular quarterly management group meeting on Thursday 11 July 2024.
The meeting received a fascinating presentation from Hetty Byrne about the work she does in the Forest of Bowland National Landscape and in particular developing the Eco Escapes project. Eco Escapes promotes a more sustainable way to enjoy the varied and fascinating landscapes of the Forest of Bowland with a focus on active travel. The project promotes travel to the area by train especially along the Clitheroe and Bentham lines. A series of attractive posters have been developed to promote Eco Escapes and these have recently been displayed in the two CRP’s red poster panels. The presentation can be viewed by clicking HERE where you will find out a lot more about Eco Escapes. The CRPs will shortly be meeting with Hetty to look at ways we can help promote this great project and boost leisure use of the local rail and bus networks.
To find out more take a look at these:
+ discoverbowland.uk/activities/ecoescapes/#about
+ forestofbowland.com/eco-escapes-business-toolkit
EcoEscapes poster on Langho station
Following this there was a presentation by Dave Savage about the work of the Community Rail Lancashire (CRL) Education Team. In particular, Dave concentrated on two projects:
+ Feel Good Field Trips which CRL is delivering on behalf of Avanti West Coast with the aim of taking 5000 school pupils on a field trip by the end of this year. There is a strong focus on schools with high pupil premium numbers and giving the pupils a memorable day out.
+ Try The Train again, a project that CRL is delivering this time on behalf of Northern. The aim is to give irregular or non rail users the confidence to plan and undertake rail journeys.
The presentation can be viewed by clicking HERE. If you want to make contact with the education team then email: TrainEd@communityraillancashire.co.uk
Richard Watts, the Partnership Secretary gave an overview of recent activities allowing both lines. In particular he spent some time talking about the new Saturday only Yorkshire Dales Explorer (YDE) service between Rochdale/Manchesrter to Ribblehead introduced by Northern. The YDE was introduced on Saturday 8th June when 150 plus people travelled on the service to Ribblehead and is now developing quite a following. Guided walks and bus links enhance the enjoyment of the fantastic Dales landscape. A steering group has been established led by Northern and including CRL, Lancashire County Council, York & North Yorkshire Combined Authority, the Rail North Partnership, the Yorkshire Dales National Park and the Settle Carlisle CRP, meets regularly to review the service and plan future marketing and promotional activity. Richard’s presentation can be viewed by clicking HERE.
A Yorkshire Dales Explorer (YDE) poster in a CRL branded board.
Full details about the YDE service can be found here: Yorkshire Dales Explorer
Owain Roberts, Northern Stakeholder Manager and Martin Keating, Community & Sustainability Manager (West), updated the meeting on Northern’s activities. Owain discussed some of the issues facing Northern and how they are affecting performance and reliability but also some of the successes such as the introduction of the YDE. Owain also mentioned that the DfT had recently announced a series of Access for All schemes including one for Church & Oswaldtwistle station. Martin talked about Community Rail Week and the many events that took place across 4 Lancashire CRPs including the successful open day at Accrington Station. He also reminded station partnerships that funding is available from the Station Adoption Fund. Owain and Martin’s presentation can be viewed HERE.
A Feel Good Field Trip at the summit of Gummers How during Community Rail Week 2024
Other updates were provided by Mike Cliffe, who Chairs the 2 CRPs and is LCCs Rail Development Manager. Mike commented on the Access for All projects he is working on at Burnley Manchester Road and Accrington as well as the recently completed improved signage between Accrington rail and bus stations funded by Community Rail Network’s Sustainable Transport Fund. The continued excellent work of Friends of Groups regarding adoption of stations and planting was highlighted as we move seasons from Spring into Summer, as well as the support of Northern Trains’ staff for the Yorkshire Dales Explorer service.
See Mike’s update here: LCC Update
Ian Davis from the Community Rail Network noted that there were a number of training sessions coming up in the next few weeks and the details can be found on this link CRN Training & Webinar Events