The East Lancashire line is a railway line in the Lancashire region of England, which runs between Preston and Colne, through Blackburn, Accrington, Burnley (Barracks and Central) and Nelson. The line formerly ran onto Skipton but this closed in 1970.

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East Lancashire line
A Northern Rail Class 142 at Colne
Overview
Owner	Network Rail
Locale	Lancashire Blackburn Burnley Pendle North West England
Termini	Preston Colne
Service
System	National Rail
Operator(s)	Northern
History
Opened	1849
Technical
Number of tracks	Mainly Double Track, with Single Track from Burnley Barracks to Colne
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route map (Click to expand)

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Legend
West Coast Main Line north Blackpool branch lines to Blackpool Preston River Ribble Whitehouse Junction West Lancashire Railway Ormskirk branch line to Ormskirk Lostock Hall West Coast Main Line south Todd Lane Junction Bamber Bridge M6 M61 Gregson Lane Halt workmen’s halt; closed 1946 Hoghton Hoghton Tower (1847–1848) Pleasington Lancashire Union Railway to Chorley Cherry Tree Mill Hill Ribble Valley line to Bolton Blackburn Blackburn Tunnel Ribble Valley line to Clitheroe Rishton Tunnel Rishton ( 1848–1852 1852– ) Church and Oswaldtwistle Great Harwood Accrington E Lancashire Rly to Bury Simonstone Huncoat ( 1902– 1848–1902 ) Hapton Padiham Rose Grove Burnley Manchester Road Calder Valley line to Hebden Bridge & Todmorden Burnley Barracks Burnley Central New Hall Bridge Halt Reedley Hallows Halt Brierfield Brierfield Tunnel Nelson Bott Lane Halt Colne Leeds & Bradford Extn Rly to Skipton

It is operated by Northern. Services on this line stop at every station on the line, although Pleasington, Hapton and Burnley Barracks are now request stops only.^[1] It was designated by the Department for Transport as a community rail line in November 2006.^[2]

The line was built by the Blackburn and Preston Railway and the Blackburn, Burnley, Accrington and Colne Extension Railway. Both companies were absorbed by the East Lancashire Railway on 3 August 1846 and 21 July 1845 respectively. The East Lancashire Railway was, in turn, absorbed by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway on 13 May 1859.

The line connected end-on at Colne with the Leeds and Bradford Extension Railway's line to Skipton and Bradford. This 11+1⁄2-mile (18.5 km) link closed in 1970.^[3] The Skipton–East Lancashire Rail Action Partnership campaigns to reinstate it. The section from Colne to Nelson was singled the following year, with the rest of the line to Gannow Junction being so treated in December 1986.

In the 1870s the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway built the North Lancashire Loop (also known as the Great Harwood Loop), a 9-mile (14 km) route through Great Harwood, Simonstone and Padiham, which bypassed Accrington. The line between Padiham and Rose Grove opened in 1875; west of Padiham it opened two years later as a result of difficulties in constructing the embankments between Great Harwood and Simonstone. Regular use of the North Lancashire Loop ceased in 1957; the route closed completely in 1964, with only the section from Rose Grove to Padiham Power Station remaining until 1993.^[4]

Trains from Preston to Colne usually begin at Blackpool South, on the Blackpool branch line, which makes the whole length of the line a total of 50 miles (80 km).

Services via the Roses line routing encompass the Calder Valley line semi-fast trains from Blackpool North stopping at Preston, Blackburn, Accrington and Burnley Manchester Road, heading towards West Yorkshire, currently terminating at York. Since May 2015, trains from Blackburn to Manchester Victoria via Todmorden also uses this route, providing a direct link from Accrington and Burnley to Manchester via Rochdale.