SELRAP Newsletter Interactive 4pm 20th feb 2026 - Flipbook - Page 21
THE ROUTE TO SUCCESS
A Compelling Case
Next Steps
The track bed at Thornton-in-Craven (SELRAP)
Colne-Skipton closure plaque (SELRAP)
SELRAP, a voluntary organisa琀椀on, has
championed reopening the “Missing
Link” for two decades. The need now
is for local, regional, and na琀椀onal
governments to work together to take
this transforma琀椀onal project forward.
This will require inves琀椀ng in detailed
engineering studies, to assess all viable
op琀椀ons
The new Lancashire County Combined
Authority must drive the project
forward, in close collabora琀椀on with its
North and West Yorkshire counterparts
and Whitehall. This will require poli琀椀cal
will power and cross-party support,
transcending short-term electoral cycles.
The short-sighted decision to close the
Skipton-Colne Line in 1970 must be
reversed. Failure to grasp this opportunity
to reopen it would be an unforgiveable
betrayal of future genera琀椀ons.
Reinsta琀椀ng the Skipton-Colne Line
through the only natural gap in the
Pennines would cost just 1% of the
budget for NPR.
The project’s strategic importance is
widely recognised by ministers and
MPs, past and present, as well as by
councillors and elected mayors across
the North.
Boos琀椀ng East/West rail connec琀椀vity,
the restored “Missing Link” would be
a catalyst for economic growth. For
example, a 2024 government forecast
es琀椀mated it would create thousands of
jobs. The review of the Treasury’s Green
Book, meanwhile, is likely to further
bolster the business case for it.
With the track bed s琀椀ll intact, its wideranging bene昀椀ts could all be delivered
long before the 2040s.
It is an oven-ready, low-risk and valuefor-money opportunity.
The long-overdue restora琀椀on of the
Skipton-Colne Line cannot come soon
enough.
2021
Students at Leeds Sta琀椀on (Northern Rail)
21
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