
From The Chair
The major development during this summer, of course, was the introduction of the new Saturday Yorkshire Dales Explorer service which commenced on the 8th June and became possible following meetings and consultations between many partner organisations and authorities. This marks not only an all-year round replacement for the old Sunday summer-only DalesRail service which was cancelled in 2023 due to a variety of issues following the pandemic, but is also an increase in the Ribble Valley line service provision to Hellifield, Settle, Horton-in-Ribblesdale and Ribblehead with connections north and south to stations for Carlisle and southwards towards Leeds.
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The authorities seem pleased so far with passenger numbers which are now well over three and a half thousand. These passengers have been counted on every train by RVR volunteers to provide data for the authorities, and chatting with many on board has revealed a multiplicity of diverse reasons for their journeys, which were mainly for walks and rambles in the summer, but also for connections at Hellifield, Settle and Ribblehead for journeys north and south. Also pleasing, as the weeks went by, was a recorded growth in southwards travel, particularly for afternoon visits to Clitheroe from the Dales, to visit its shops, pubs and restaurants and special events. Hopefully this will continue towards Christmas and through the winter and Northern Railway, Community Rail Lancashire and RVR are working to publicise the coming special events planned in Clitheroe which are almost weekly.
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Whilst there have been a couple of hiccups namely a failed train at Ribblehead, necessitating the twenty or so returning passengers to catch a following Leeds train and the YDE train encountering a failed service train at Clitheroe on its return, which necessitated passengers catching the no.22 service bus, overall the new service has been a success to the extent that it has been nominated for the national Community Rail Awards and the Rail Business Awards as an example of how the Rail Authorities, Local Government and Community Groups (including Lancs Rail Ramblers, Friends of the Settle and Carlisle and RVR) have all worked together to make it happen.
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More in RVR News 140
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Peter Eastham
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