The first direct train services between Accrington and Manchester in over 40 years are now a reality as the Todmorden Curve officially opens this weekend.

Todmorden Curve is due to officially open on Sunday, May 17, with services between Accrington and Manchester Victoria taking just over an hour. An off peak day return ticket will cost £9.90 and children travel for half price.

Newly returned MP for Hyndburn Graham Jones said he will be travelling on the first service on Sunday.

He said: “I’m going to catch the first service at 8.26 on Sunday morning on my dual ticket to Manchester.

“The rail link has been years of hard work and this will put Hyndburn on the map.

“The next thing we have to look at is to see if we can get an extension out to Manchester Airport, speed up the peak services and see if we can add more stops to the off peak services.

“The first task was to secure the service, we’ve done that, now we have to work on improving it.”

The £8.8 million project has been hit by a series of delays since plans to reinstate the 500m stretch of track, including a lack of rolling stock.

The ten-year project has been a partnership between Northern Rail, Network Rail, Lancashire County Council and Burnley Council.

The new service will call at Church and Oswaldtwistle and Accrington and services between Accrington and Manchester Victoria will run hourly. Commuters will no longer have to change at stations such as Blackburn or Preston.

On weekdays the first trains will leave Accrington at 6.23am and last trains will leave Manchester at 10.50pm. On Saturdays the last train will leave Manchester at 11.01pm, with the latest Sunday train leaving Manchester at 9.50pm.

Hyndburn council leader Coun Miles Parkinson said the service had been a long time coming.

He said: “It’s very pleasing, but there’s a lot more to do in terms of the rail stock and timetable.

“It’s so important we don’t get a ‘second class’ service.

“East Lancashire needs economic regeneration, we need to be on that level, we have to sell ourselves, we have to put Hyndburn forward as an area with connections.

“To be a successful economy, it’s all about connections, road, rail, air, by doing that we get economic development.”