AN early-morning rail departure has signalled a brighter future for East Lancashire – and ended a 50-year wait for a fully-fledged connection to Manchester.

Campaigners have heralded the £8.8million reinstatement of the Todmorden Curve, enabling the first direct link to Manchester from Burnley and Hyndburn since it was closed by Dr Beeching’s railway reforms in 1965, as capable of bringing in £20million to the area’s coffers each year.

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And it brings to an end around 30 years of lobbying – by everyone from MPs, councillors and the Lancashire Telegraph to volunteer rail groups – to slash journey times to the city.

The trip will take 52 minutes from Burnley and 63 minutes from Accrington but is hoped that around 10 minutes can be shaved off the ride with the introduction of better rolling stock in a year.

Previously passengers from Burnley and Accrington heading for Manchester had to change trains at Blackburn or Preston. The new service will see 17 trains travelling between East Lancs and Manchester on a weekday starting at 6.34am, 16 on a Saturday starting at 7.38am and 15 on a Sunday starting at 8.37am.

Regular weekday commuters will pay £12.30 for a return from Burnley. Fares on Sunday will be at ‘off peak’ rate of £9.70 return.

Each service begins in Blackburn and calls at Church and Oswaldtwistle, Accrington and Rosegrove before arriving at Burnley Manchester Road. The next stop is Todmorden before moving on through Rochdale.

The Clitheroe to Manchester service, via Blackburn and Bolton, will still be operating.

Train driver Lyndon Ryan made history at 8.18am yesterday as he pulled a two-carriage Sprinter train out of Blackburn, en route to Church and Oswaldtwistle, Accrington and Burnley Manchester Road stations heading to Manchester Victoria.

Train guard Ian Warbrick said: “It’s a little bit of history – I’ve been on the railways for 41 years and I usually work out of Manchester but this is a special run.”

Father and son David and Andrew Scott, from Burnley, joined the service at Manchester Road.

Andrew, 47, a weaver, said: “I was working until 7am but I wanted to be on the service. I didn’t want to miss out.”

Retired David, 79, who worked on the railways from 1950 to 1959, worked relief shifts at the old Manchester Road station before it closed in 1961.

He added: “There’s been a lot of interest in this and I wanted to make sure I was on board.”

Gerard and Kathleen Grimshaw, 57 and 56, from Accrington, caught the train at the main Hyndburn stop, with their three-year-old granddaughter Sienna.

Printer Gerard said: “History is being created. If it wasn’t for Dr Beeching this journey would never have disappeared.”

Kathleen added: “We wanted to bring our granddaughter because it was something special.”

The project has already had two major false starts, as the Lancashire Telegraph was the first to reveal. An initial concern was a lack of rolling stock, with East Lancashire’s hopes being dashed for even hand-me down carriages from other lines.

And then when that obstacle appeared to have been overcome, bosses at Network Rail confessed they had only completed signalling at the Todmorden end of the newly-relaid track. But supporters of the scheme are looking forward to East Lancashire finally reaping the rewards for the long-awaited service.

Burnley MP Julie Cooper said: “It should make a massive difference to our economy and bring in at least £12million per year.”

And Burnley Council leader Cllr Mark Townsend added: “We’re delighted to have a direct service to Manchester from Burnley once again.”

Former Burnley MP Gordon Birtwistle, who lobbied then-Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg for funding for the Manchester Road station and Todmorden Curve track, spoke of the relaunch as his ‘legacy’.

Conservative councillor David Heginbotham, who was on the first service, added: “This is where we start to put East Lancashire on the map. It will raise the quality of life for people in Burnley and beyond and improve job prospects immensely.”

Hyndburn MP Graham MP, who was on the train with wife Kimberley and daughter Alana, said: “Hyndburn will benefit just as much as Burnley. It is perfectly placed to become an ideal location for commuters and for the next 20 years or more we will be reaping the rewards.”

Stephen Martin, chairman of STELLA (Support The East Lancashire Line Association) said: “One of our late members, Chris Laycock, was the first to raise this issue many years ago, and he drafted reports to Railtrack detailing how it could be done.”

See our picture gallery here http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/photos/2015_photos/curve/