Well, judging by some of the posts I've read today, I reckon forum members could do with a short break from the TransWilts. Therefore, I'm going to take you to the Ribble Valley, or the town of Clitheroe, to be precise.

Some interesting Clitheroe-related facts:

- Clitheroe has a population of 22,000

- It lies on the southern edge of the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for tourists in the area.

- It has a significant industrial heritage, with several such companies each employing hundreds of people.

- Clitheroe has many small independent shops, as well as some smaller branches of chain stores, and numerous banks and building societies. It also has a number of supermarkets, and future retail developments include a controversial new Homebase store.

- Clitheroe lies in the safe Conservative seat of Ribble Valley, but the town of Clitheroe itself has elected at least 8 out of the 10 Liberal Democrat councillors to Ribble Valley Borough Council, while Clitheroe Town Council is Liberal Democrat controlled.

- Clitheroe station closed in 1962, and re-opened in 1994.

- There is an hourly service daily from Clitheroe to Blackburn and Manchester Victoria with extra trains during peak hours.

- Northern Rail is to run a 6.40am service, from Clitheroe to Manchester Victoria, from May, after lobbying from the Clitheroe Community Rail Partnership. The new service, which will run over half an hour before any other train from the town into Manchester, is being hailed as a ‘godsend’ for commuters.


- Clitheroe station passenger usage in 2006-2007 was just over 230,000

- The Government and Prime Minister Gordon Brown have backed a scheme for the Ribble Valley Line, called "Pennine Lancashire", which will see new housing, tourist attractions and improved transport links. It includes:

- New signalling.

- Doubling single-track lines.

- Increased linespeeds.

- New rolling stock.

- Extending platform lengths.

The station is part of an award-winning bus and train transport interchange, operated and maintained by Lancashire County Council. The bus station is the terminus for bus connections bringing passengers from towns and villages in the Ribble Valley area to the train service to Blackburn and Manchester.

Facilities include:

- A staffed (even on Sundays) control and information office which sells the full range of National Rail tickets.

- Information about all bus and rail services using the Interchange and throughout the Ribble Valley.

- A free park and ride for bus and rail users.

- Secure cycle storage.

- CCTV.

- Heated waiting area.

Passenger services normally only run as far as Clitheroe, but the line continues through north Lancashire towards the Yorkshire town of Hellifield, where it joins the Settle–Carlisle line. On summer Sundays Northern Rail also operates the DalesRail service, which starts at Blackpool and continues beyond Clitheroe to the Settle-Carlisle line, where it calls at all the stations en route to Carlisle.

The Ribble Valley Line is a key freight and diversionary route, and this factor, along with overcrowding on the successful passenger service which has led to the DfT seriously considering plans to increase services from 1tph to 2tph, provides the impetus for the "Pennine Lancashire" Ribble Valley Line enhancement proposals.

Key differences? It would be tempting to say that it is "up north", and so must be key to Labour prospects. However, if you look at the political characteristics of the Ribble Valley area (which are not unlike those in our area), this is clearly not the case.

One key difference has relevance to recent quotes in reply to a TransWilts supporter from a WC transport official:




Clearly, it is a case of "walking the walk" rather than just "talking the talk." In the case of the Ribble Valley Line, the DfT, Northern Rail and local authorities have chosen to "walk the walk" in terms of making the above vision reality, while the DfT, FGW and Wiltshire Council are clearly stuck "talking the talk" on the TransWilts Line.

Take the "Pennine Lancashire" Ribble Valley Line enhancement proposals for example. It was announced in March 2007 that major improvements to the line were being proposed by Blackburn with Darwen Council, who unveiled an £8 million bid to the Department for Transport and Network Rail. The proposals included installing double tracks where presently the route is single line, improved signalling giving increased track capacity, enhanced line speed, longer trains at peak times and ultimately putting on more frequent trains to and from Manchester throughout the day.

Although funding for the scheme was eventually rejected in March 2008, those on the ground persisted, leading to government (and Prime Ministerial) backing for the "Pennine Lancashire" Ribble Valley Line enhancement proposals.

Despite "improvements to the TransWilts service having been part of the Council's transport policy for many years" and "the efforts of the Council to establish a properly reasoned case for improvements", I'm not aware of WCC having put in a similar bid regarding funding for enhancements to the TransWilts Line.

Another example is the attitude of local authorities in the area, who are clearly convinced of the benefits of public transport, and are prepared to significantly invest in it rather than seeing doing so as being a "Radical Approach."

Wiltshire Council, on the other hand, recently published an LTP3 Consultation Issues Paper that didnt mention rail at all in its "Public Transport" section, and asked for views on how and where public transport service reductions should be made (link below.)
http://fletcherworld-fletcherworld.blogspot.com/2009/04/ltp3-consultation-issues-paper-could.html