Skipton–East Lancashire Rail Action Partnership

[3] Colne is currently served by one train per hour, which traverses the 50-mile (80 km) East Lancashire Line from Blackpool South via Preston, Blackburn and Burnley Central; there are many station stops at intermediate towns, with a total journey time in excess of 100 minutes.

[6][7][8] A 2003 study commissioned by Lancashire and North Yorkshire County Councils from consultants Steer Davies Gleave found that the formation was largely intact and there were no insurmountable obstacles to reinstatement of the line.

A double track railway achieves a positive benefit cost ratio if recent trends of accelerating demand growth are assumed to continue.

[12] At the county level, the Lancashire LEP board "Noted the robust and compelling case that the independent study by Cushman & Wakefield makes for enhanced East-West connectivity to realise the full economic potential of the Central Trans-Pennine Corridor and its role in delivering the long-term growth ambitions of the wider Northern Powerhouse".

[17][18] Chris Grayling announced in January 2019 that the initial study declared the project "technically feasible".

The next step was to prove the worthiness of the re-opening by the commissioning of a business case which would look at the prospect of freight services on the line making the project "commercially feasible".

[19] This line has been identified by Campaign for a Better Transport as a priority 1 candidate for reopening,[20] with support also being voiced by local and regional businesses.

David Cutter, the chief executive of Skipton Building Society, said that reopening of the line would improve connectivity between East Lancashire and North and West Yorkshire.