On the 23rd of May, the Bentham Line at Bingley Station saw the Community Rail Partnership (CRP) host the Rail Minister accompanied by Ade Ayoola, the Community Rail Lead at the Department for Transport and Jools Townsend, the CEO of the Community Rail Network.

Gerald Townson, CRP chairman and CRP Partnership Officers Catherine Huddleston and Brian Haworth gave an overview of the line’s post-pandemic recovery and showed the Minister CRP’s video ‘We’ve Missed You Too’.

The video has been created to give a personal welcome back to passengers travelling on the Bentham Line and hopes to encourage leisure travel and local journeys.

The Rail Minister was also given a copy of the Executive Summary of the ‘Bentham Line Strategy to 2042’ which was published recently whilst Gerald Townson discusses the key points of the study such as its foundation within local communities which supported the shaping of the final document.

Last year saw the Bentham Line ‘Dementia and Community Rail’ project featured in the ‘William-Shapps: Review of Rail’ with the CRP seizing the chance to provide an update on this ongoing and successful scheme. The Minister’s portfolio also includes accessibility for public transport and she is eager to encourage similar initiatives moving forward across the rail network.

The Community Rail Week also saw the Leeds-Morecambe CRP come together with neighbouring community rail partnerships at Leeds Station in a bid to promote Community Rail, active leisure travel and ‘staycations’ as part of the ‘Give the Train a Try’ national campaign. The event saw the Yorkshire Coast Community Rail Partnership, North Notts & Lincs CRP and Settle-Carlisle CRP meet at the event alongside visits from Northern, CrossCountry and the Community Rail Network.

The week previous to Community Rail Week saw the Leeds-Morecambe CRP team visit Lancaster Station in order to raise awareness of dementia via their Dementia and Community Rail project which saw a ‘Bake for Dementia’ event held with the Alzheimers Society.