RAIL enthusiasts are drawing up a plan for the reinstatement of the picturesque Wensleydale Railway.

David Butterworth, a member of Ribble Valley Rail and the North West Rail Passengers Committee, has called a meeting at BAE Systems in Samlesbury on Wednesday, May 21.

The meeting has been organised by the 3,000-member Wensleydale Railway Association, which proposes to reopen and operate an 18-mile stretch of the railway between Redmire and Garsdale.

The new service will link Blackburn and Preston with the Yorkshire Dales and Britain's main East Coast Line.

Regular passenger trains last ran on the line in 1954 and the association has already raised £1million for the project from a share offer.

The association has members throughout East Lancashire and admission to the meeting is by named ticket.

Association secretary Ruth Annison said: "This rail service will improve access to the countryside, without bringing more cars into the National Park.

"Bringing passenger trains back to Wensleydale will help rural regeneration and contribute to integrated transport in the Yorkshire Dales."

"The association has many members in East Lancashire, many of whom regularly visit the Yorkshire Dales, and we felt it was time to give them up-to-date news."

The meeting will be addressed by Scott Handley, chief executive of Wensleydale Railway, who will outline progress and future developments.

Rail enthusiasts in Ribble Valley have already fought a five-year battle to reopen the railway line between Blackburn and Clitheroe.

The line was one of hundreds across the country controversially closed to passenger services in 1962.

But the railway tracks were never excavated, as freight continued to use the line and British Rail also needed the route for diversions when there were problems with the West Coast Main Line to Scotland.

A campaign by Ribble Valley Rail for the restoration of passenger services on the line came to fruition on in 1994, when Lancashire County Council and Ribble Valley Council donated £300,000 for the revamp of Clitheroe Station and £800,000 for the creation of new stations at Ramsgreave and Wilpshire, Langho and Whalley.

It was forecast the line would be used by around 210,000 passengers per year, but this figure has been surpassed.

The meeting into the proposed reopening of the Wensleydale Railway will take place from 6.30pm to 8.30pm and tickets are available from Ruth Annison on 01969 667487 or 01969 650349.