A RAIL route from East Lancashire direct to Manchester Airport has been demanded by councillors.

They are calling on Northern Rail to provide a direct route for passengers travelling from Blackburn, Accrington and Burnley to the North West’s largest airport.

They say, at present, passengers are put off using trains for the airport because they have to change trains which can be troublesome if connections are missed and luggage has to be lugged around.

It is hoped more passengers would use the train link as an alternative to expensive taxis and airport car parking.

It is believed the route from Blackburn station to Manchester Victoria via Todmorden could be extended to travel as far as Manchester Airport following the completion of the Ordsall Curve, which directly links tracks from Manchester Victoria to the airport.

The calls for the new rail link came following a public meeting held by Transport for the North, an organisation that has vowed to ‘revolutionise’ road and rail travel by 2050.

Hyndburn Cllr Noordad Aziz, who has also been campaigning to create a new road link between the M65 and Yorkshire, is putting pressure on Northern Rail to introduce the direct rail link for passengers by next year.

Cllr Aziz said: “We are lobbying for a line that can travel directly to Manchester Airport.

“There are residents and businesses that can only get access to the airport via train. The line can alleviate the problem for our residents and bring in good connectivity for our regions.

“The line is on the map and has been talked about and there is feasibility as long as Northern schedule it.

“We could get his done within six months to a year.

“There is a lot of momentum calling for this in East Lancashire because it would aid our businesses and residents.

“People need to lobby the train operators to make this happen.”

Blackburn with Darwen Cllr Phil Riley, who sits on the Transport for the North board, which is made up of 19 Northern local authorities, supports calls for a direct rail link.

He said: “A direct link between East Lancashire and Manchester Airport is on of the things Blackburn with Darwen Council has asked asked Northern to provide.”

Cllr Mark Townsend, leader of Burnley Council, said: “There would be knock-on benefits for residents but we have to focus on business and make sure we get the jobs and growth.”

A spokesperson for Northern said: “As part of our franchise agreement we had an obligation to review the feasibility of providing a through service from Blackburn and East Lancashire via Todmorden and the Ordsall Chord to Manchester Airport.

“The review concluded that additional capacity is needed on the corridor through Manchester Oxford Road before this or any other service can be accommodated.

“We hope that this is something that can be revisited in the future but at this time there are no definitive plans.”