A RAIL passenger group's chairman has called for a threatened East Lancashire train route to be retained.

Brian Grey, Railfuture North West's chairman, said the TransPennine Express route should be improved, not dumped.

Mr Grey made his comments as Railfuture unveiled a document which outlines a vision for the future of train services in the region.

He said that the route which links Burnley, Accrington and Blackburn with Preston and Leeds was currently in a limbo.

It faces the axe after being omitted from the Strategic Rail Authority's plans for the TransPennine Express earlier this year. Its future will become clear over the next six months as a franchisee is awarded from the shortlist of Connex Transport UK, Arriva PLC, and First Group Keolis SA.

But the SRA's focus is on a congestion beating route between Manchester and Leeds along the M62 corridor.

Mr Grey said that the SRA, was going for the money in focusing on the big cities at the expense of smaller towns.

"It was a major omission from the SRA's plans. It should be part of the TransPennine franchise. But it's on going at the moment," he said.

"The smaller stations should be retained because if we lose them we would get a significant amount of extra traffic.

"The Blackpool to Burnley line is not first rate in comparison to others and can be quite a slow journey. It should be improved in the years to come.

Meanwhile, the document, 'Enhancing the Rail Network in the North West', outlines a series of plans to improve the North West's rail system.

The document will be sent to all the train operators, Railtrack, the regional assembly, county councils, the Chamber of Commerce, and transport officers.

Ideas include trains having more carriages, lower fares, plus more organised engineering work and track, as well as having less franchises so not to confuse the public.

"There's a need for something like this at the moment. As a nation we've done at all well in so far as our rail network is concerned," said Mr Grey.

"It is everyone's responsibility to lobby for improvements and it's our fault if they don't happen.

"The train service has been deteriorating since World War Two, and you can't blame one government for that.

"But something has to be done."

Railfuture is a nationwide organisation with 3,000 members which aims to protect passengers and expand rail networks.