I suspect that's a rhetorical question because clearly there are far more deserving schemes than Colne-Skipton. Certainly I'd be happy if it did re-open, but it wouldn't remotely be my priority for rail investment.
Also, long experience discussing costs on railforums leads me to expect that there's basically no way £500m would pay to significantly upgrade Preston-Colne AND re-open Colne-Skipton. I'd guess, more like a billion.
The one sensible thing in the speech is the acknowledgement that Colne-Skipton is probably not worth doing without that upgrade. Certainly I'd be pressing for an upgrade, as I could well imagine a half-hourly service of modern electric trains would do well on that route.
This discussion has been done before, but getting the passengers to justify the costs of reopening/upgrading is the problem. Colne to Leeds will never be a short commute, Leeds isn't the main draw in East Lancs, between Colne and Preston it's difficult to compete with the speed of the motorway.
It's not a cheap reopening, if you could ever justify more than 1tph the upgrade wouldn't be cheap either - double track, the platforms for that, unless it's been replaced recently there's a crew worked level crossing on the branch - is that indicative of the general level of the infrastructure? Are the viaducts suitable for heavy freight. He talks about electrification as well - it's not the worst route for overbridges (however certain bridges would be highly problematic if they did need replacing) and tunnels, though there are the viaducts, but the going rate for electrification is currently too high for the MML, so what chance a relative backwater like this - even under a government committed to electrification at any cost it'd be well down the list.
If the formation was fairly intact like most previous reopenings, a simple hourly diesel service Leeds - Colne/Rose Grove/Blackburn might have the best case. Are the bigger ideas talked about required to justify the costs of reinstating the line between Skipton and Colne?
