I was pleased to meet up with Northern Rail’s Regional Director, Liam Sumpter at Nelson Train Station to discuss the improvements they are making to the Preston-Colne line and to welcome their new hourly service on Sundays.
Northern’s new service began on Sunday 10 December. It will stop at all three of Pendle’s stations and is a big improvement on the two-hourly service we have had up until now. This will make it much easier to get to Burnley, Accrington, Blackburn, Preston and other stops along the line, seven days a week.
The improvements are part of modernisation across Northern’s network taking place between now and 2020. This will include 243 new, refurbished carriages all with WiFi as well as improvements to stations and ticketing. The old Pacer carriages will be gone! Overall, the number of services Northern can run will increase from 2,500 per week to around 4,500.
I welcome this improvement of our rail service. More of us would catch the train if it was regular, reliable and a more enjoyable experience. Achieving this is vital to making Pendle a better place to live and work, and can boost our local economy as well as help relieve congestion on our crowded roads.