[Acrylic-bob]

I think this should come under the general heading of "Don't hold your breath while you wait".

Page 25 of this weeks local rag shows us a spanky new drawing of the building which is proposed to replace Accrington Railway Station.

Gone, it appears, is any idea of linking the train and bus station. What Lancashire County Council, in their usual high-handed way, have decided that we should have is another building essentially the same as the existing one, which is to be torn down. The only difference being that it will be sited on the opposite, Eagle Street, platform. Oh, and as a nod to government regulations concerning climate change, it will have solar heated water and make use of rainwater to flush the loos.

Peter Clarke, HBC's cabinet portfolio holder for environmental protection is reported as saying: " It will fit in with Hyndburn Council's green policies and hopefully encourage people back on public transport". Which goes to prove, yet again, just how far removed from reality these clowns actually are. The things that will encourage people back onto the train are:

1. Getting them to run on time.
2. Getting them to run more often.
3. Making the whole business less expensive.
4. Having trains that look comfortable and inviting instead of the present cattle trucks.
5. Not having to wait ages in the rain and cold for a train which has been cancelled and for which no announcement has been made.
6. Not having to dash like a loony over the footbridge to catch a train, because there is only one waiting room. Is it really asking too much to expect there to be a waiting room on each platform? This is the 21st century - isn't it?

99 out of 100 potential passengers could not give a sh*t where the water to flush the station loo comes from. Most of them, if they were honest, couldn't give a stuff about additional disabled parking either, especially as the existing parking spaces are to be decreased to make way for them.

Anyway the plans are, as yet, uncosted and have yet to be put before HBC's planning committee, so you can bet that there will be many a change between this article and the finished building.