Seems like a grasping at straws reason. Surely anyone can see that Nelson’s woes cannot be put at the door of a lack of rail link to Skipton. After all, it has a direct rail link to Burnley, Blackburn, Preston and 1 change for Bradford, Leeds, Rochdale and Manchester. It’s woes are evidently not due to a lack of connectivity to far far bigger and more important places than Skipton.
Very similar I imagine. Sod all chance.
I think there is a bit more at play than simply rail services although the rail service Nelson currently has is useless. Goes nowhere in one direction, and takes forever in the other direction.
I agree that Nelson's woes cant be laid at the foot of railway closures. However in any sort of economic development, accessibility is key, and often it is the benefits that aren't immediately obvious that are the most beneficial.
Personally, I would support the scheme simply because I like to go to Skipton for a beer, but you could never justify building a railway for that.
In terms of levelling up, any investment undertaken by government peaks the interest of developers in terms of house building and employment, this, in the medium term, leads to rising property prices and increased economic activity. Most developers have the maxim, "build it and they will come" and more often than not this is true.
Government also benefit from this development by increased tax revenues (and less welfare payments) so their financial return is not solely in terms of track access fees and journeys. Pendle, and Nelson in particular are hugely deprived, yet are surrounded by relatively wealthy rural areas.
Increasing public transport provision enables poorer citizens to seek employment elsewhere whilst commuting from home, instead of relocating to the city and increasing demand further there. Money then flows into the local town, creating local employment. In areas where motorways aren't too prevalent these affects are easily spotted.
Take Bacup in Lancashire, a small town which lost its rail link in the 60s. Awful access by road and now an economic backwater. Compare this with nearby Hebden Bridge which has similar population, similar surrounding countryside, similar poor road access, but a brilliant rail service. Then look at the general wealth in each.
Politically, it should be a no-brainer (and more so in marginal seats such as Pendle). The biggest problem with this scheme is what to link in terms of passenger journeys especially along the Burnley - Skipton section. Leeds (or possibly Bradford) to the east is obvious, but it is less clear to the west. Westward the journey needs to connect somewhere, and not end somewhere that nobody wants to go to such as Blackburn.
However, direct services to Manchester seem problematic given capacity issues in that city, and current route layouts / constraints. Maybe a Leeds Liverpool "canal" route may work? Fanciful, but it would at least create a new service linking towns such as st Helens and Wigan with east Lancashire and Yorkshire, and would at least offer something new, rather than duplicate something that already exists
One last thought, motorways don't generate revenue (although they do generate traffic!), but we seemed keen to build them until relatively recently, so it does make you wonder why cost is such an issue..