REINSTATING the rail line between East Lancashire and North Yorkshire could be a distinct possibility under the new Tory government, a council leader says.

Cllr Richard Foster, the leader of Craven District Council, told colleagues at their last full meeting of 2019, that they had to be prepared and ready to act quickly following the election of a new Conservative administration.

Cllr Foster said he did not know what would happen but thought the Skipton to Colne railway line must be ‘very much back on track’.

“If the government is serious about infrastructure in the North and there is a big chunk of money, I can see that this is a project they could get going,” he said.

Cllr Foster said he hoped the new government would listen to Northern leaders and that new MPs would not move down to London and become ‘Westminsteries’.

Under former Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling, two high-profile visits were made to Colne, bolstering SELRAP’s (Skipton and East Lancashire Rail Action Partnership) campaign.