AN almost unused East Lancashire railway line will become England's main line to Scotland on eight Saturdays in the New Year.

The line between Clitheroe and Hellifield will be pressed into service for Virgin services between London, Birmingham and Scotland because the West Coast main line through Preston and Lancaster will be closed for repairs.

Main line trains will travel through Blackburn on their way to the Ribble Valley line which has been used for diversions before but has not had its own passenger service since 1963.

The line beyond Clitheroe is currently only used by a small number of freight services which operate from Castle Cement in Clitheroe.

Dave Butterworth, chairman of Ribble Valley Rail campaign group, said he was encouraged the line was being used by main line services but warned people against seeing it as a sign regular services would soon be introduced.

He said: "The current operator First North Western is already at full stretch and simply does not have the resources to introduce extra services.

"And there is currently no business case for introducing services beyond Clitheroe."

"But the very fact that the line is being used by diversions is vindication for those people who fought to keep the line open ten years ago when its existence was under threat.

"The one concern we would have is that these diverted services should not have any impact on the timings of the regular passenger services to and from Clitheroe."

Celebrations were held in May to mark the fifth anniversary of the re-opening of the line as far as Clitheroe.

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