Councillors have agreed to raid their resources to help pay towards the cost of a study into building a new train station in Cross Hills.

Railtrack bosses persuaded Craven Council to pay out £10,000 towards the £45,000 needed for the study into setting up a new £1 million station in the village.

Railway bosses and North Yorkshire County Council have already established the economic viability of building a station off Station Road.

But before the project goes ahead they want a feasibility study to look at the impact the station will have on the local environment and sought a £10,000 contribution from Craven Council.

South Craven councillor Ian Bannister, said: "It is a small amount of money which we are providing and it is going to be used in a responsible way. The station is essential to the development of this area.''

Railtrack customer services manager Richard Wrightson said: "There will be no station without this feasibility study. Railtrack has an obligation to operate a safe railway. We believe a study is the best way of achieving this.''

Once the station was built it would be the responsibility of Railtrack and would be leased to train operators.

The study would involve identifying the best location for the station, assessing the amount of work needed in terms of facilities, platform details and requirements of the disabled, calculating and estimating the cost of the works and looking at the need for signing, signalling, waiting areas and car parking.

It would also explore information on soil conditions and the layout of the proposed station and look into traffic calming measures.

l Over the last decade new stations have been established along the line at Cononley and further south at Steeton which serves commuters in Silsden, Steeton and Eastburn.

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