| East Lancashire Railway | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 60103 Flying Scotsman at Blackburn Road bridge, Ewood Bridge, heading towards Rawtenstall | |||||
| Locale | North west England | ||||
| Terminus | Rawtenstall and Heywood | ||||
| Connections | Network Rail (east of Heywood, via Castleton) Manchester Metrolink (south of Bury) | ||||
| Commercial operations | |||||
| Name | East Lancashire Railway | ||||
| Built by | East Lancashire Railway (1844–1859) | ||||
| Original gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge | ||||
| Preserved operations | |||||
| Operated by | East Lancashire Light Railway Company (ELLR Co.) | ||||
| Stations | 7 | ||||
| Length | 12 miles 45 chains (20.2 km) | ||||
| Preserved gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge | ||||
| Commercial history | |||||
| Opened | 1846 | ||||
| Closed | 17 March 1980 | ||||
| Preservation history | |||||
| 31 March 1986 | Granted Light Railway Order (for public service) | ||||
| 25 July 1987 | Re-opens and public service begins | ||||
| 27 April 1991 | Extension to Rawtenstall | ||||
| 6 September 2003 | Extension to Heywood | ||||
| 13 October 2016 | New halt opened at Burrs Country Park | ||||
| Headquarters | Bury Bolton Street | ||||
| |||||
The East Lancashire Railway is a twelve-and-a-half-mile (20 km) heritage railway line in North West England which runs between Heywood, Greater Manchester and Rawtenstall in Lancashire. There are intermediate stations at Bury Bolton Street, Burrs Country Park, Summerseat and Ramsbottom, with the line crossing the border into Rossendale serving Irwell Vale and Rawtenstall. Before closure, the line terminated at Bacup.
The heritage line is now just over 12 miles (19 km) long and has a mainline connection with the national railway network at Castleton, just beyond Heywood. The ELR is planning to extend the running line to Castleton in the future.