A Walk Between Burnley Barracks And Burnley Manchester Road Stations
Burnley Barracks and Burnley Manchester Road stations are not that far apart.
This Google Map shows Burnley’s three stations in relation to the Town Centre and Turf Moor.
The various locations are as follows.
- Turf Moor is indicated by the red arrow in the East.
- Burnley Barracks station is in the North-West corner.
- Bunley Central is at the North.
- Burnley Manchester Road is at the South.
- The Leeds and Liverpool canal weaves its way through the town passing close to Burnley Barracks station.
What the map doesn’t show is the terrain. The main station at Manchester Road is on one stretch of high ground and Central station and Turf Moor are on another.
So I walked between Barracks and Manchester Road stations along the canal.
It was a pleasant walk, but I still had a stiff climb up to Manchester Road station.
The East Lancashire Line
The East Lancashire Line is the line that runs through Burnley Barracks station.
The route needs to be improved and I wrote about this in Improving The Train Service Between Rose Grove And Colne Stations.
I suggested that Class 769 bi-mode trains would be ideal for the route.
Burnley Barracks Station
There would appear to be a lot of development planned along the canal.
Surely, this development will generate passenger traffic, as many will prefer to walk along the level canal tow-path, rather than climb the hill to Burnley Manchester Road station.
Burnley Barracks station needs improvement.
- Better shelter.
- Ticket machine.
- Better means of requesting the train to stop.
- Ideally, there would be a lift to street level.
But at least Network Rail are replacing the bridge over the canal and the platform can already accommodate a four-car train.
Conclusion
If refurbisheed four-car Class 769 trains replace the current two-car scrapyard specials on the East Lancashire Line, the following will happen.
- Capacity on the route will be doubled.
- The service will be faster, due to the increased speed and power.
- No expensive platform lengthening will be required.
- An hourly service between Blackpool South and Colne will have no problems operating seven days a week.
- Some stations, like Burnley Barracks, will need improvements to handle the extra passengers.
Two trains per hour will need track work to add a passing loop and modern signalling, and a few more trains.
The Anonymous Widower 