Community Rail Partnership proposed for the Calder Valley line

Castleton Station

A Community Rail Partnership has been proposed for the Calder Valley line, which links Leeds and Manchester via Bradford and Halifax, by The Friends of Castleton and Littleborough Stations, and campaign group STORM (Support the Oldham, Rochdale, and Manchester lines).

A Community Rail Partnership works to improve community rail lines, stations and services via a partnership between Network Rail, the train operating company, local council, other community organisations such as rail user groups and other stakeholders, supported by the Association of Community Rail Partnerships and the Department for Transport.

Community rail is all about ensuring communities get the most from their railways. Working alongside local, regional and national partners, community rail partnerships and groups around the country aim to play an important role in social inclusion, community wellbeing and economic development, and promote rail as a key part of sustainable, healthy travel.

In a letter sent to all Rochdale borough councillors, the groups said: “There are over 50 community rail partnerships in Britain, from the West Highland Line down to the Isle of Wight.

“Community rail is a growing grassroots movement made up of these partnerships and local groups and station friends groups across Britain. They engage and empower communities and help people get the most from their railways.

“The Calder Valley Line would benefit massively from being a community rail partnership; it would give the beautiful scenic line a national identity and promote free tourism along the line. The extraordinary success of the ‘Discover Amazing Women by Rail’ project and booklet, where the Friends of Littleborough Stations created a partnership with other community rail groups, suggests that such a partnership is an excellent idea.

“The Calder Valley line runs parallel to the Rochdale canal for much of its length and no less than ten stations are very close to the canal, four are adjacent.

“The Friends of both Littleborough Stations and Castleton Station strongly support a community rail partnership, as do the long-established, officially recognised rail user groups STORM and the Halifax & District Rail Action Group.

“Calderdale Council have asked their transport planners to find ways of setting up a community rail partnership and now we ask Rochdale Council to do the same and to support one in Rochdale.”

Councillor John Blundell, cabinet member for regeneration at Rochdale Borough Council, said: "I'm a huge fan of the Calder Valley line and I'm currently pursuing a master plan for each station along it, as revitalising the areas around train stations will be a major focus for us going forward.

“By creating communities around major transport hubs, we can find new uses for brownfield land and breathe new life into under used areas. These new communities are also sustainable because new businesses and residents which move into these areas have crucial transport links all around them.

"I'm really interested in this proposal and have already been in touch with the friends of Castleton station to set up a meeting, so I can talk through our ideas and find out more about the council being part of the community rail partnership."