SELRAP woos new MP supporters

Campaigners trying to break the deadlock in their bid to reopen the 12-mile Skipton-Colne link will be forging links with new MPs.

Of the scheme’s most vocal Conservative supporters, only Robbie Moore (Keighley and Ilkley) and Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) were returned to the House of Commons.

However, Shipley’s new Labour MP Anna Dixon said: “I would be happy to do what I can to support the reopening of the line.”

Pendle and Clitheroe’s new Labour MP Jonathan Hinder pledged: “After years of talk, it is now time for action, and I would be an outspoken advocate for this project.”

Skipton-East Lancashire Rail Action Partnership (SELRAP) met with Skipton Town Council on July 11, to try to regain some lost momentum for the long-running project.

The route was abandoned by British Rail in 1970. It is now viewed by many as a valuable new through route over the Pennines to East Lancashire.