RAIL campaigners in Colne have hosted a third straight visit from a Department of Transport official, as they bid to revive a train connection from East Lancashire to North Yorkshire.

Before the end of the year government rail chiefs will decide which projects are going to be taken forward to improve connectivity across the north of England, including Lancashire, Yorkshire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside.

Members of SELRAP (Skipton East Lancashire Rail Action Partnership) have been lobbying strongly for a number of years to ensure the eleven-and-a-half mile stretch between Colne and Skipton is high on that list.

Project officer Jane Wood said: “Another member of the Department of Transport visited in mid August to find out more information from SELRAP about this ‘missing link’ and the contrasts in quality of the existing rail service in the area.

“This is the third person from the DFT to have visited the area during the last 12 months. SELRAP is also maintaining contact with a new ‘umbrella’ group called Rail North.”

The campaign group secured the support of another major player, the Skipton Building Society, which has branches either side of the county borders.

Meanwhile the rail enthusiasts have also commended colleagues north of the border, who restored their own “missing link” between Edinburgh and Tweedbank.

Closing just 12 months before the Colne to Skipton line was axed in 1970, plans for the Scottish route were revived in the early 2000s and rebuilding began in November 2012. The Queen and Prince Philip will reopen the 30-mile long line on September 9.

Phil Verster, managing director of the ScotRail Alliance, said: “The Borders Railway will open up Midlothian and the Borders to so many more opportunities including tourism, leisure, work and education.”

The next meeting of SELRAP will be held, to update the public about progress with the campaign, on Monday, September 14, at the New Life Christian Centre in West Street, Colne, from 7pm.