The Arguments Start On The Todmorden Curve
I’m not going to comment except suggest you read this article in the Burnley Express.
What A Difference A Small Length Of Track Will Make!
For some years it has been an ambition of Lancashire County Council to reinstate a short four hundred metre length of railway called the Todmorden Curve, which was lifted in 1972.
Northern Rail will provide an hourly service from Burnley Manchester Road and Accrington to Manchester Victoria from May 17th.
If I look at the timetables, there is one train an hour between Burnley Manchester Road and Manchester Victoria tomorrow that takes sixty-five minutes with a change at Hebden Bridge.
By comparison, on Monday, May 18th, the one-change service still runs but there is an additional direct train every hour taking fifty-two minutes.
That’s quite an improvement in service made by just four hundred metres of new railway line.
Hopefully, there will be another big improvement when the line is electrified, which should happen in the next few years.
A Journey Into History At Todmorden
The title of this post is borrowed from this article in the Todmorden News about the opening of the new curve that I wrote about here.
The tone of the article is enthusiastic and it shows how these smaller rail projects are often really useful in their local area. This curve for instance will allow direct Manchester to Burnley trains for the first time in forty years.
All they need to do is rustle up some decent diesel multiple units. Then they’ve got to work out what services will use the curve. Judging by my experience of Burnley Manchester Road station, it couldn’t be used as a terminus. So where will the trains go after that station?
The area of the country that lies between Leeds and Manchester is an area that needs to be given a lift.
Projects like this can only help.
If this one proves to be the success all of its promoters expect, I suspect we’ll be seeing more of this type of project.
Network Rail engineers will hopefully be doing what they like to do most!
Burnley To Liverpool Airport On A Sunday
To get to Liverpool Airport from Burnley on a Sunday wasn’t easy.
I first got a train to Preston where I got a train to Ormskirk. There was this unusual end-to-end interchange between one of Northern Rail’s Class 153 scrapyard specials and one of Merseyrail’s smart Class 508s.
Changing Trains At Ormskirk
Merseyrail has been pushing to electrify all the way from Liverpool to Preston, which would remove this change of train. Wikipedia says this.
Electrification from Ormskirk to Preston has been considered in conjunction with the Burscough Curves reopening. It would re-establish the most direct Liverpool-Preston route and is one of Merseytravel’s long-term aspirations.
This whole corner of Lancashire seems either to be sprouting wires or growing third rails. Many of which lead to Liverpool or Manchester.
Once in Liverpool, I alighted at Moorfields station and walked a hundred yards or so to Carluccio’s, where I had a supper to prepare me for the journey.
I did search for a bus to Liverpool Airport, but even at the main bus station, there was no information or anybody to ask.
When will these people learn, that one of the way to get people to use buses is to provide information everywhere as London does.
So I reluctantly took a taxi!
How Did They Get There?
There really can’t be an obvious answer to how these trees got on top of this chimney in Burnley.
How Did They Get There?
Life would be so much more boring without questions like this!
Burnley’s Smart New Station
Burnley has a smart new station at Manchester Road, which should be opened later in the year.
As Burnley are now in the Premier League, wouldn’t it be a good idea for a shuttle bus to Turf Moor on match days.
I wonder when and where the last station was built in the UK in quality stone.
This new station will be linked to Manchester Victoria by an hourly service, when a new curve is completed at Todmorden. There is more here on the Network Rail site. This is the key paragraph.
The new rail service between (Manchester) Todmorden and Blackburn will be supported by a partnership that includes Lancashire County Council and Burnley Borough Council. Initial plans are for an hourly service operating 7 days a week.
So hopefully two smart stations will be connected by a good service.
I do wonder whether in time, the Caldervale line from Blackpool and Preston to Leeds and the Manchester to Burnley lines will get electrified.
Slow Train To Liverpool
On Saturday, I’m flying out from Liverpool to Gdansk in Poland to start one of my home runs by train back to London.
You might argue why I’m starting from Liverpool rather than one of the London airports.
It’s because I’m seeing Ipswich Town play their last away match of the season at Burnley and it seems logical to take a flight from the more convenient Liverpool Airport.
I had thought, it would be easy to get a train between Burnley and Liverpool, as I’ve driven the route in the 1960s and it must have taken about two hours in my 1950s-vintage Morris Minor. So surely, there must be a train in about that time to speed me on my way, with a change at Preston.
If I was to do it today, I can do the journey in two hours and eight minutes with just that single change, but on Saturday, it’s a journey of two and a half hours changing at both Preston and Ormskirk. At least I end up in Liverpool at the station nearest to Carluccio’s, so there should be just time for a good late lunch and then a taxi to the Airport, from the rank next to the restaurant.
Fifty years on, we don’t seem to have made much progress!
Although things should get better in the next few years, as the Northern Hub spreads its electric tentacles.
The Lack Of Left-Luggage Facilities
On the 26th of April, Ipswich are playing in Burnley, and I shall be going.
Unfortunately, the match is on Sky and starts at 12:15, which means taking the 08:30 train to Preston out of Euston, where I change for Burnley.
It is not a difficult journey and I’ve done it before.
However, this time, I think it might be a good idea to go on holiday the next week and there is an ideal flight out of Liverpool to Gdansk on the Saturday evening.
So as it is easy to get to Liverpool Airport from Burnley, via Preston, it would be ideal.
But what do I do with my case for the holiday?
Preston is a major train interchange, but in common with most mid-sized stations in the UK, it doesn’t have any left luggage facilities.
So if I do decide to go on holiday that week, I’ll have to come home to get my case and use a more expensive flight, than the good value one out of Liverpool.
It strikes me that there is an opportunity for someone to create a nationwide system to handle left luggage.
To And From Turf Moor
I took these pictures of the walk to Burnley’s ground; Turf Moor and the walk back by a route avoiding the dreadful pedestrian-unfriendly roundabout by the station.
Burnley is a town that needs a few more light-controlled crossings, as both walks involved lots of crossing of major roads, often with iron railings to get in your way.
Many clubs would organise a bus service on match days, especially as the climb back to the station is quite severe.
Burnley Manchester Road Station
Burnley Manchester Road station must be one of the most rudimentary stations, that serve a major town in England, as these pictures show.
But at least they would appear to be building a new station. It’s detailed here.
It is badly needed, as there is little shelter on the platforms, virtually no facilities and steep climbs up to the road above the station, that serves as a footbridge. You could argue that my old station at Dullingham is better, although the train service is probably less comprehensive.
The Anonymous Widower 