Saturday 24th August saw the Yorkshire Dales Explorer service break the 1000 mark and has now carried 1,045 passengers north of Clitheroe.
24% of passengers have taken part in a guided walk organised by either the Lancashire Rail Ramblers (LRR) or Friends of the Settle Carlisle (FoSCL); 33% have arranged their own walks and 43% have taken part in other activities or simply ridden the line.
Coach links have helped extend the reach of the service and on the 29th June walkers were able to take part in guided walks in the Forest of Bowland using a coach link from Clitheroe Interchange and on the 27th July walkers were able to enjoy a day out in Swaledale using a special coach link from Ribblehead.
A number of groups have joined the service including MAD, part of the Manchester Rail Ramblers; the Manchester Weekend Walkers, Humraaz, an organisation that supports BME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) women based in East Lancashire and DARE, the Darwen Asylum and Refugee Enterprise. I am sure there may be others that haven’t been mentioned to us.
From feedback from the stewards it appears that there is a growing number using the return working from Ribblehead to visit the Ribble Valley and in particular Clitheroe.