to sustain the former levels of train service, and of infrastructure. Blackpool Central station was closed at the end of the 1964 Illuminations period, on 2 November, and the site was sold; trains on the coast line terminated at Blackpool South, and a few years later they were only shuttle services to and from Kirkham. The Fleetwood to Blackpool passenger service had finished in 1964. On 18 April 1966, the Fleetwood line was cut back to Wyre Dock. The New Line from Kirkham closed on 6 September 1965, although it was used for excursion trains until 13 February 1967. In 1970 the Euston-Blackpool services, which had hitherto travelled via Lytham, were diverted to the North station. In January 1974 this station was rebuilt on the site of the former excursion platforms, on a smaller scale to suit modern requirements. The south to west connection at Kirkham, which used part of the original Lytham branch, was closed in 1967, and the retained connection to Poulton old goods station was closed in 1968; the west curve on the new line at Poulton was closed in 1972. The passenger service between Fleetwood and Poulton ceased on 1 June 1970. The line remained open to chemical works at Burn Naze, but beyond that, Fleetwood and the docks were no longer rail-served. The entire branch from Poulton closed in 1992. In the 1970s and early 1980s the Blackpool South branch, as it had become, was singled, and the quadruple track between Preston and Kirkham was reduced to double track. The present day During a long period of decline, the Blackpool North line became a medium-level branch from Preston, and the Blackpool South line a local shuttle subsidiary of that, from Kirkham. The Fleetwood line is no more. For some time local opinion formers have demanded better services, and electrification of the line from Preston to Blackpool North was implemented. This was commissioned in time for new passenger services to operate from 16 April 2018. There are (2020) three through trains to and from London in the timetable and a half-hourly service to Manchester. The service from Blackpool South is typically hourly. Reopening the Fleetwood Branch As of Midsummer 2022, the BBC are reporting that plans to re-open the railway from Poulton to Fleetwood have been approved by the government. Accidents Poulton 1893 There was a serious accident on 1 July 1893, when a light excursion