| East Lancashire line | |||
|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) ANorthern RailClass 142 at Colne | |||
| Overview | |||
| Owner | Network Rail | ||
| Locale | Lancashire Blackburn Burnley Pendle North West England | ||
| Termini | |||
| Service | |||
| System | National Rail | ||
| Operator(s) | Northern | ||
| History | |||
| Opened | 1849 | ||
| Technical | |||
| Number of tracks | MainlyDouble Track, withSingle Track from Burnley Barracks to Colne | ||
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)standard gauge | ||
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TheEast Lancashire line is a railway line in theLancashire region of England, which runs betweenPreston andColne, throughBlackburn,Accrington, Burnley (Barracks andCentral) andNelson. The line formerly ran ontoSkipton but this closed in 1970.
It is operated byNorthern. Services on this line stop at every station on the line, although Pleasington, Hapton and Burnley Barracks are now request stops only.[1] It was designated by theDepartment for Transport as acommunity rail line in November 2006.[2]
The line was built by theBlackburn and Preston Railway and theBlackburn, Burnley, Accrington and Colne Extension Railway. Both companies were absorbed by theEast Lancashire Railway on 3 August 1846 and 21 July 1845 respectively. The East Lancashire Railway was, in turn, absorbed by theLancashire and Yorkshire Railway on 13 May 1859.
The line connected end-on at Colne with theLeeds and Bradford Extension Railway's line toSkipton and Bradford. This11+1⁄2-mile (18.5 km) link closed in 1970.[3] TheSkipton–East Lancashire Rail Action Partnership campaigns to reinstate it. The section from Colne toNelson was singled the following year, with the rest of the line to Gannow Junction being so treated in December 1986.
In the 1870s the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway built theNorth Lancashire Loop (also known as theGreat Harwood Loop), a 9-mile (14 km) route throughGreat Harwood,Simonstone andPadiham, which bypassed Accrington. The line between Padiham and Rose Grove opened in 1875; west of Padiham it opened two years later as a result of difficulties in constructing the embankments between Great Harwood and Simonstone. Regular use of the North Lancashire Loop ceased in 1957; the route closed completely in 1964, with only the section from Rose Grove toPadiham Power Station remaining until 1993.[4]
Trains from Preston to Colne usually begin atBlackpool South, on theBlackpool branch line, which makes the whole length of the line a total of 50 miles (80 km).
Services via the Roses line routing encompass theCalder Valley line semi-fast trains from Blackpool North stopping at Preston, Blackburn, Accrington and Burnley Manchester Road, heading towardsWest Yorkshire, currently terminating atYork. Since May 2015, trains from Blackburn toManchester Victoria viaTodmorden also uses this route, providing a direct link from Accrington and Burnley to Manchester viaRochdale.
