Craven College students back rail link reopening campaign
Craven Herald & Pioneer, 24th September
CRAVEN College students are supporting the campaign to re-open the 12-mile 'missing link' railway between Skipton and Colne.
Students at the Skipton-based college will help the Skipton-East Lancashire Rail Action Partnership (SELRAP) build public support for the re-instatement of the line that closed in 1970.
Starting this term, the campaign will be a focus for second year students studying business, social media and marketing.
It will include helping to publicise a petition, to be launched on October 10.
The involvement of Craven College was announced at a SELRAP members meeting held in Skipton on September 14.
A new daily bus route has recently been launched by the college and Transdev from East Lancashire to the college to support the around 25 per cent of students who live in Colne, Earby and Barnoldswick.
Andy Dixon, SELRAP’s chair, said: “This is a huge boost for our campaign."
"The Colne-Skipton line’s reopening will bring transformational benefits for young people across the North, providing much-needed access to work, education and leisure opportunities, so it’s great to involve some of them in making it a reality.”
Duncan Bulloch, assistant principal, curriculum and skills, at Craven College, added: “A quarter of our students live in East Lancashire, so improving public transport links over the border is a priority for us."
“The students are already working up their ideas, particularly how the SELRAP campaign can engage more younger people."
"It’s a wonderful opportunity for them to get hands-on experience on such an important, real-life project.”
The SELRAP members’ meeting also heard that the Skipton branch of the RMT union has unanimously passed a motion calling on the Department for Transport and regional authorities to allocate the necessary capital funding to advance construction of the Colne-Skipton Line 'without delay'.
Guest speaker at the meeting was Theo Morgan Lundie, a PhD researcher from Lancaster University, specialising in sustainable public transport.
Mr Morgan Lundie outlined the full social, economic and environmental benefits that the Colne-Skipton Line reopening would bring.
He also highlighted that passenger use of similar lines around the country has surpassed government predictions by up to 400 per cent.
Cllr Claire Nash, Skipton Town Council's representative on SELRAP, told the recent full meeting of the council that the campaign group's recent meeting had been very positive.
She said the group would like the town council to re-state its long-term support for the campaign, which the council last re-affirmed in 2024.
