Boris Johnson is being urged to restore Fleetwood’s rail links. During a 2019 campaign visit to Thornton station – between Poulton and Fleetwood – the Prime Minister said that the Lancashire town “should have a railway” and backed proposals to reopen the line.
Lancashire County Council is now writing to the Prime Minister to ask for his continued support in reopening the rail link.
A £100k feasibility investigation to explore options for reopening the station, which first closed in 1970, has already been carried out by Lancashire County Council.
The study found that the line could be reopened for heavy rail, to integrate with the national rail network. It confirmed it could also be used for ‘light’ rail, as an extension of the Blackpool Tram route, or as a cross system using vehicles which could operate on both heavy and light rail systems.
The study also found that reopening the link would propose an 11-minute journey from Fleetwood to Poulton, and 28 minutes from Fleetwood to Preston. A journey which currently takes an hour by public transport.
County Councillor Charlie Edwards, cabinet member for highways and transport, explained the study had been submitted to the Department for Transport in a bid to further develop the business case through the Restoring Your Railway programme – a funding scheme to reinstate axed local services and restore closed stations.
He said, "The case has been developed in partnership with Fleetwood Town Council, Network Rail, the Poulton and Wyre Railway Society and Wyre Borough Council and enjoys widespread support from Wyre residents and local MPs.”
"The Prime Minister outlined his support for the scheme when he came to Fleetwood to launch the national funding programme, and I'm pleased that county councillors have agreed to support this motion to write to him to ask for his personal support with our bid to enable us to deliver this important scheme as quickly as possible.”
The Councillor added, "ensuring people can travel quickly and efficiently using public transport transforms people's options for where they can live and work, and this scheme could be a key component of the government's 'levelling up' agenda."
