The Liverpool Echo has the article on its website – see link below:-
Well as a driver I’ve always kept out of them but now I’m also a cyclist it’s apparent that some drivers stop within Bike Boxes.
The photo above is of the junction at Kenyons Lane/Northway in Lydiate as just one example of a ‘Bike Box’ and I wonder what the experiences of local drivers and cyclists are of using them?
With thanks to Keith Page for the lead to this posting
Croston Station
I was just a little surprised to come across a seemingly pre-May 2018 railway timetable change video* (see link below) being circulated via Twitter very recently. I’ve been of the view that Community Rail Lancashire was rather disinterested in the line. The video promotes an hourly train service on the line from May 2018 and of course that didn’t happen back then** with the line suffering huge service failures during much of 2018 which even made the national news!:-
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvqCraWQYfU&app=desktop
I’ve blogged before (August 2018) about the seemingly disappointing approach of Community Rail Lancashire towards the Ormskirk – Preston Line. My relevant previous posting is accessible via the link below:-
Burscough Junction Station on the Ormskirk – Preston line.
Maybe I need to be more positive about Community Rail Lancs if we’ve turned a corner now for the better. Here’s hoping for more positive initiatives from them.
* The video actually showcases the ‘Bee Line Project’ (no I had not heard of that either) which promotes the whole presently split rail corridor from Preston to Liverpool via Ormskirk.
** The line does now have a hourly train service and it has reached around 90% of the trains both running and near to timetable times. This is quite an improvement from the only 30%ish figures back in 2018 when services on the line all but collapsed completely. Sadly though, the consequence of such poor services for so long have meant passenger numbers on the Ormskirk – Preston part of the rail corridor are much, much lower than they were before the May 2018 timetable fiasco.
Lakeland MP Tim Farron says “The line was set to be shut over Easter because of engineering works on the West Coast Mainline, so it’s brilliant news for the Lake District that we’ll now have trains running again on the line on Saturday and Sunday.
I’d like to say a massive thank you to West Coast Railways and Network Rail for helping to make this happen.
The guys at West Coast did an amazing job last summer when they stepped in to provide a service on the Lakes Line – roll on the weekend!”
Rimrose Valley Country Park
Please access the link below for the latest news from Rimrose Valley Friends about their environmental work and campaign to try to stop Highways England building a new access road to the Port of Liverpool through their beautiful county park:-
www.rimrosevalleyfriends.org/news/wildflower-meadow-friends-of-the-earth-support-and-more/
Leeds Liverpool Canal through Rimrose Valley Country Park.
I came across this article on the BBC website recently and it immediately took me back to that wonderful film Local Hero which I have seen so many times:-
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-47934197
Progress and nostalgia meeting head on, no wonder the local council is trying to tread carefully
It also took me back to the early days of my time as a Sefton Councillor (early 2000’s) when new mobile phone mast planning applications were matters of huge controversy everywhere. Now, like television aerials, telegraph poles and electricity pylons, they are just just a part of every local street scene.
A mock-up of a Class 777 – The new Merseyrail trains that will soon replace the Class 507/508 EMU’s
* The first Class 777 unit is expected to arrive on Merseyside in the Autumn of this year.
* The seventh unit delivered, I am told, will not now have battery capability and the battery trial has been suspended due to an identified technical issue. Battery capable units are being looked upon by OPSTA and others to enable the extension of the Ormskirk line (for example) to Burscough and possibly even Preston as this option will be much cheaper than having to install electrification along the present Ormskirk – Preston Line. It is to be hoped that the technical issue will be solved.
* There seems to be some truth in the rumour that a number of the present Class 507 EMU’s may be retained. This is, I understand, a contingency plan should the movement of platform signals not be achieved in time. This would be an interim measure.
A new Stadler Merseyrail train artist impression