Visitors to this area always find it unbelievable that you can't catch a train to get from Southport to Preston. During the 1998 Open at Royal Birkdale, a television presenter decided it would be better to miss the Southport and Liverpool crowds and stay in Preston. After all, there is a station in Preston, and one at Hillside right next to the golf course.... His description of the 3 hour journey was a source of amusement for all of us in the know and amazement for the many visitors who didn't.
Six months ago, a campaign was launched to bring back the Burscough Curves, a short lengh of track, linking the Southport - Wigan line to the Ormskirk - Preston line. As well as getting easliy to Preston, it would also be possible to get to Ormskirk by train.
The mainstay of the campaign is a petition which needs 10,000 signatures before it can be presented. At the moment, fewer than 1,000 people have signed mainly because of a lack of publicity.
Although there is now an excellent bus service to Preston, this breaks down at times of high traffic volume in Southport e.g. during the airshow, so a rail link would help reduce the traffic in Southport at busy times.
If you would like to see this rail link revived - the track bed is still in place - then click here to add your name to the petition
