THE plan to extend the Bury-based East Lancs Railway into Heywood is back on track and it is expected the final legal documents will be exchanged in the next few weeks.

Officials involved feared the plan, which is also seen as vital to the further regeneration of Heywood, would miss the urgent time-scale required for the Light Railway Order.

Chairman of the East Lancashire Railway Company, Mr Trevor Jones, had warned that a stand-still in the plan due to legal wrangling may have meant it missed the expiry date for submission for a Light Railway Order and could have shunted the project off the scene altogether due to extra costs.

However, the final legal hurdles have been cleared and already work has been carried out on the four-mile track. The company, along with Bury, Rochdale and Rossendale Councils, are exploring areas of funding to enable platform and ancillary work at Heywood Station to proceed further.

It is hoped the extension of the popular tourist service, which presently runs nine miles between Bury and Rawtenstall, will be a major boost to Heywood's revival plans and that trains will be operating on the four mile spur by the millennium. Work on the extension has been partially funded by the European Community.

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