New hopes for long-awaited Burscough Curves reopening
New plans are being considered even before the arrival of a devolution-loving PM
Hello and welcome The Southport Lead.
For several years I have been writing about the Burscough Curves - a stretch of railway that was ripped out thanks to the Beeching cuts. Various attempts have been made to convince the government to fund its reopening - with widespread support and just two miles of undeveloped land to reinstate it is often seen an easy win to massively improve Southport’s rail links.
I’ve wrote about the curves many times but only recently actually managed to see stretches of what remains - mounds alongside farmlands and bridges with trees growing out of them - and doing so only makes the prospect seem all the more feasible. No dramatic land changes, no expensive bat tunnels.
And yet, still nothing has been done - Southport continues to have no direct train to Preston or Ormskirk.
Perhaps that will finally change though. A new Lancashire council has been created and it has listed the curves among its potential infrastructure improvements. Combined with an incoming Prime Minister who loves devolution, hopes are set to rise again.
Southport briefing
🔨 Work dismantling parts of Southport Pier will finally begin in the coming weeks. The historic structure has been closed since 2022 and is set to be fully refurbished thanks to £20m of government funding, with work due to take place over more than a year. Sefton council leader Cllr Marion Atkinson said: “You will see some contractor movement in the next couple of weeks. You will also see, coming in July, some dismantling of parts of the pier. A E Yates are on site now, starting work. We promised, we said we would bring our fantastic, beautiful pier back, and that’s exactly what we’re doing.” The pier will remain closed throughout the works, and is due to reopen in the second half of 2027.
🍗 The former owner of a popular takeaway has been hit with a six-figure fine after failing to pay £235,000 worth of tax. Sahara. Southport Ltd, which previously operated Sahara on Manchester Road, was fined £127,000 for failing to pay money owed to HMRC and has now been named a list of deliberate tax defaulters published by the government. The company had just one director -Ahmed Ikhlaq - and the unpaid tax related to a period from July 2020 to June 2023. The takeaway is now run by a different company. Kevin Hubbard, HMRC’s director of individuals and small business compliance, said: “We are actively tackling tax non-compliance among high street businesses across the UK, and today’s namings show we will act wherever we find it. Everyone on this list had the opportunity to come forward to make a full disclosure – and didn’t. HMRC will always pursue those who deliberately refuse to pay what they owe.”
🩸 An electrician who was inspired by his mum’s treatment has been celebrated after completing his 75th blood donation. Mark Askie, who works for SeftonArc, made his 75th donation at the Liverpool Blood Centre earlier this month, donating platelets which are a vital component used in lifesaving treatments across the NHS. During his mum’s illness, she relied on platelet infusions as part of her treatment which led to Mark deciding to move from whole blood donation to platelet donation, with 59 of his 75 donations now being platelets. Mark said: “Seeing first-hand how important platelet transfusions were for my mum really stayed with me. If taking a bit of time out to donate can help someone else through a difficult time, then it’s absolutely worth it. I’d encourage anyone who can to consider donating, it really does make a difference.” Platelets are tiny, gold-coloured cells in the blood that help it clot and prevent bleeding. They play a crucial role in medicine, supporting patients in a wide range of situations, with around two-thirds helping people undergoing cancer treatment, but have a shelf life of just seven days which means there is a constant and ongoing need for donations. In recognition of this achievement, Mark will receive an Emerald Donor Card, badge and certificate, marking his outstanding dedication to blood donation.
🏗️ An “historic moment” was hailed as the Sefton Council’s cabinet agreed to enter into a construction contract for Marine Lake Events Centre. As reported in last weekend’s edition of The Southport Lead, the council has agreed to fund an additional £33m towards the flagship project after lengthy delays saw construction costs soar. The new venue will be a replacement for Southport Theatre and Convention Centre and is seen as a key driver of visitors to the town which will play a major role in the local economy. Construction is now set to begin in October after preliminary works that began earlier in the summer, with a target opening date of 2029. Sefton’s executive director Stephen Watson told a cabinet meeting on Thursday inflation was high across the construction sector since the pandemic and war in Ukraine, citing a 40% rise in the price of structural steel but said £12m of savings had been found before reaching the latest cost of £106m. The council hopes to secure the additional funding required for the scheme through central government and Liverpool City Region Combined Authority grants, as well as through borrowing. The opposition Lib Dem group again criticised the council’s unwillingness to share information after the meeting, with Cllr John Pugh pointing out that only the eight cabinet members have been allowed to see a 281-page document. He said: “I think we all understand and respect confidentiality in Sefton, but I am not sure everyone has a grasp of transparency and democracy. Regardless of project or cost this secrecy is bad practice and I will pursue every external means to get the unvarnished facts in front of the public and my fellow councillors.”
New hopes for long-awaited Burscough Curves reopening
By Jamie Lopez
Fresh hopes have been given to the prospect of reopening the Burscough Curves rail lines.
Restoring the line is among ideas being considered by a new authority which will replace Lancashire’s existing councils under devolution plans. Named the Lancashire Combined County Authority (LCCA), the body has been set up to transfer powers from central government to local decision-makers in Lancashire and could also provide a major boost to Southport.
Under existing government plans, more decision making and funding is being passed onto local leaders in Lancashire. With Andy Burnham, a huge advocate of devolution and improved public transport, almost certain to be the next Prime Minister it is expected that such projects will receive more funding and powers will be passed on to local leaders - though the ongoing argument about whether Lancashire should or will have a mayor continues to complicate matters.
The LCCA has been set up to begin operations during the devolution process which will eventually see 15 councils replaced by three or four and it is consulting on proposals to make dramatic improvements to transport infrastructure. As part of this, it wants to review ideas which were considered and rejected under the government’s Restoring Your Railways (RYR) scheme.
These include re-opening the curves, which total around two miles of railway tracks which linked the Ormskirk-Preston and Southport-Wigan lines and were closed as a result of the Beeching cuts in the 1960s.
While many of the closed lines have been developed over, the two miles stretch across the Burscough Curves remains unused. While the actual tracks were removed, the land they sat on has simply become overgrown and can still be seen in the form of tree-filled bridges and mounds surrounding farmland.
The proposal would involve relaying those two miles of track to reinstate a two-way junction and bring back links between the two existing lines. It would mean that for the first time in 60 years, efficient public transport would be available from Southport to Ormskirk and Preston in a boost for both commuters and daytrippers.
Currently, public transport is only available for those journeys is only possible in the form of buses which are slow and, in particular in the case of Preston, have very limited services at various points in the day.
Repeated efforts have been made to lobby various governments for their reopening going back to the 2000s and it was mentioned in Parliament by then MP and now councillor John Pugh in 2011: “The Burscough curve is my scheme of first preference. There are two stations, half a mile apart, in a growing, substantial dormitory town. Trains of two major franchises cover two city regions: Merseyside and Preston, as well as central Lancashire. Those two conurbations have been identified as being poorly linked by transport, but linking those two city regions requires only half a mile of track.
“If that were the case in Southwark, Kensington, Walthamstow, Richmond or the Thames Gateway, I have no doubt that it would have been funded and done years ago. Colleagues may play the game for themselves with their own pet schemes. What is a no-brainer in London is often a half-century campaign elsewhere.”
As part of an exchange which ended with the Transport Secretary promising to meet to discuss the project, Southport’s representative spoke of the frustration of seeing plans being discussed but receiving no progress, stating: “I am not comfortable with the strange, Kafkaesque world in which nothing really happens except that the odd consultant gets paid from time to time. The bizarre anomalies that lead to people supporting various schemes continue, but no final decisions are made. I suggest that there is a more intelligent way to do things.”
Speaking to The Southport Lead this week, Cllr Pugh said there needs to be more efforts made to secure transport improvements. He said: “It is good to see mention of the curves within Lancashire’s Transport Plan but Lancashire Council will not be around for much longer and we need the cash rich City Regions of Manchester and Liverpool to engage with this project.
