Skelmersdale residents slam 'cruel joke and betrayal' as train station plans kicked out
Residents in a West Lancashire community have blasted a Government decision to deny them a long-awaited train station.
Yet high hopes were pinned on the reintroduction of rail links in Skelmersdale, seen as totally transformative for the town’s fortunes, enabling better links to jobs in cities like Liverpool and Manchester and had been the subject of long-running campaigns, with the prospect of a new rail link last raised by Boris Johnson in pre-General Election promises in 2019.
The 20-year-old told Lancs Live: "I think the Government needs to come to Skelmersdale and see what's happening; it's the biggest town in West Lancashire and we have nothing for the youth and the elderly. It's getting left by the wayside. I just think it's sad and the train station is just another example of how they don't care about us. "
Resident Isabella Cunliffe, 67, shares the palpable sense of disappointment hanging in the air at the Concourse Shopping Centre. She tells us: "It's disgusting - they have been planning this for years and years and years. I've been living here since I was 15 and I think it's disgusting. I don't feel stranded but the bus service is rubbish where I live in Bickerstaffe."
"I am disappointed, yes, and I was looking forward to it. If you haven't got a car or you can't pay for a taxi, you've had it. We have got the buses, but if you haven't got a car you might as well pack it in on bank holidays; forget it. We have got the line - why can't we go ahead and do it?" "As a Council, we have been working hard to deliver ambitious development projects that will bring further prosperity to Skelmersdale; the fantastic Tawd Valley Centre has just recently opened and we have also committed to a major new Health and Wellbeing Hub. Given Government funding for rail investment is over-subscribed with a high level of competition, a change in decision is highly unlikely.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
'To say feeling are running high is an understatement': Residents fear Preesall quarry bid will change village foreverResidents in Preesall are up in arms over controversial plans to establish a quarry in the village and have set up a campaign to fight the move.
Read more »
How 'Stranger Things' Actor Brett Gelman Trained to Become a Soviet-Smashing Karate MasterHawkins' resident fighting expert walks through the workouts he used to punch and kick convincingly on camera
Read more »
Morecambe beaten at Huddersfield Town in third pre-season outingMorecambe’s latest pre-season match ahead of the new campaign saw them beaten 3-1 by Huddersfield Town behind closed doors.
Read more »
Lostock Hall residents raise flood concerns as 50 new homes proposedMarilyn Avenue has flooded on numerous occasions in the past Residents in Lostock Hall are objecting to plans to build 50 news homes due to flood concerns. The development would see the affordable homes built on the site of the former Lostock Hall Primary School in Avondale Drive. However residents in Marilyn Avenue and Maureen Avenue fear the new homes would add to existing drainage issues that have caused their homes to be damaged from
Read more »
Gethin Jones addresses cruel comments in defiant postBBC Morning Live presenter Gethin Jones took to Instagram to tackle rude comments about his sweatiness
Read more »