MP attacks transport plan

A new rail line could be a ‘game changer’ for a picturesque town that has been crying out for better transport connections for years, the local MP has said.

Multiple plans have been considered in recent years to turn the popular East Lancashire Railway in Rawtenstall from a heritage train attraction into a daily commuter service.

But when Lancashire County Council published its strategy to implement the Local Transport Plan in May, there was no mention of the floated ‘City-Valley’ line that would connect the area to employment opportunities in Manchester.

Rossendale and Darwen MP Andy MacNae has called this plan ‘incomprehensible’, pointing out that the ELR ‘could also be a brilliant commuter line taking residents of Rawtenstall into Manchester’.

“This could be a game changer for us and yet when Lancashire [County Council] published its transport implementation plan last month, it wasn’t even on the list,” the MP said.

This followed a parliamentary debate last week by MacNae, where he questioned the seeming focus on creating better connections between big cities like Liverpool, Manchester, and Leeds, instead of smaller towns that are often left out.

Although he welcomed the announcement of a new train station in Lower Darwen, the MP also said: “Rossendale remains the only borough in the north without a direct rail link, despite thousands of residents commuting into Manchester, only 15 miles away.

“The old railway line still exists. All we need to do is reinstate it as a commuter line.

“Rossendale Council’s City-Valley link proposal is credible and carefully developed. Yet, like so many small town infrastructure projects, it has been consistently overlooked.”

The people of Lancashire are being asked to have their say about the council’s transport plan, which will direct infrastructure improvements up to 2030 with a focus on bus routes and improving connections between the county’s East-West ‘Central Belt’.