A SLAITHWAITE-based rail association has been lobbying Parliament to get MPs' support for rural railways.
Members of the Association of Community Rail Partnerships (ACoRP) travelled to the House of Commons yesterday to attend the first Parliamentary session of 2005.
ACoRP - which represents 50 community rail partnerships in the UK - was backing a call from Scarborough and Whitby MP Lawrie Quinn for the Government to support rural railways.
Mr Quinn asked MPs to give their full backing to the Strategic Rail Authority's Community Rail Development Strategy.
The SRA strategy, launched in November, aims to designate 56 rural rail routes as `community rail lines'.
This will mean community partnerships helping rail operators improve services and attract new passengers.
The SRA is soon to be axed, so the Government's Department of Transport will continue to develop the strategy.
ACoRP general manager Paul Salveson said MPs were positive about the idea.
He said: "The general tenure of the debate was that the community initiative is a good thing. We were very pleased with the outcome."
The successful Penistone Line Partnership (PLP) - a non-profit group which helps develop the Huddersfield to Sheffield line - was mentioned in the Parliamentary debate.
It is one of a series of pilot schemes being run nationally to demonstrate the benefits of the SRA's strategy.
The SRA believes schemes like the Penistone one will help rural rail lines halve their subsidy requirements and double income from fares over five years.
The SRA, Penistone line operator Northern Rail, Network Rail and the PLP were meeting today to discuss how to develop the Penistone line further in the next few years.
