ACCORDING to the December 2023 issue of that eminent magazine Modern Railways a proposed Network North line from Bradford via Huddersfield to Manchester could be routed via the old short-cut from Pickle Bridge at Wyke.
The line goes through Bailiff Bridge where it passes close to houses built since the line closed in 1952 – might residents have something to say? Bailiff Bridge station closed in 1917. The line also served Clifton Road (east of Brighouse centre), and then turned south to cross a site that is now a densely developed industrial estate, to join the Calder Valley line on the wrong side of Brighouse.
Further on, the M62 would complicate possible alternatives, heading for the Bradley curve line (we assume) towards Huddersfield.
If this really is the route planned it just skirts the eastern fringe of Calderdale. We are not aware of any plans for local stations. The intention is a fast route for Manchester trains with one stop at Huddersfield. No intention to serve Calderdale has been expressed.
Modern Railways says: “industry sources have expressed doubt as to whether the suggested 12 minute journey time between Huddersfield and Bradford would be achievable.” (The distance is about 12 miles.)
There is an obvious issue about pathing at Huddersfield – where westbound services from Bradford would conflict with eastbound ones towards Leeds. Beyond Huddersfield, Transpennine Route Upgrade should deliver one additional track as far as Marsden, so fast trains can pass stoppers and freights (in both directions?).
Beyond Marsden we think a new Northern Powerhouse Rail high speed line is still planned. Total journey time Bradford to Manchester is said to be 30 minutes. We’d bet it turns out to be 35 minutes – if it ever happens.
We concede that the present Bradford- Huddersfield route via Halifax and Brighouse – and Elland soon – is indirect. And the trains are nothing like frequent enough. But Network North says the fast trains from Bradford could be no more than two per hour. Are they really going to build a new line for that?
Network North was dreamt up (or dusted down from dusty filing cabinets) to use the money saved by cancelling HS2 phases 2A (West Midlands to Crewe) and 2B (on to via Manchester via the airport). It will be no news to readers of this newsletter to learn that not only is not all the money saved being spent in the North of England, some of it is not even to be spent on rail. Talk of money being diverted to fixing potholes just seems wrong: yes, potholes need to be fixed, not least for the safety of people on bikes, but that is essential “revenue spending”, whilst rail-building schemes like HS2 or reopening the Pickle Bridge line, or indeed road-building schemes (like the A629 locally), are classed as capital; that is, new investment.
HADRAG has always been neutral on the argument for and against high-speed rail. But there is nothing like having something cancelled – such as the route from Birmingham to Crewe, in dire need of congestion relief for both passenger and freight – to make you realise how much you need it. Latest news is the row about HS2 spending in the North being diverted to fix London problems.
Obvious Question
The obvious question is how long would a fast service from Bradford to Manchester via a modestly improved Calder Valley line take? Present services are at best semi-fast. And of course we want to maintain stops at intermediate stations serving communities such as Sowerby Bridge. So additional fast trains would be needed maybe making maybe two stops (Halifax and Rochdale come to mind).
Present “semifast” trains take about 52 minutes Manchester-Bradford with 4 stops. They must be retained. Could the time for 2-stop fast trains come down to maybe 40 minutes? That would need linespeed improvements, and maybe the additional capacity the West Yorkshire Combined Authority calls for in its rail strategy. And it needs a sensibly designed timetable. The linespeed improvements would also benefit services calling at intermediate stations.
If 40 minutes is achievable via the Calder Valley line, do we really need a new route via the Pickle Bridge cut-off or elsewhere? Especially if it is not going to serve the communities through which it passes?
The government’s post-HS2 plans do mention our area. The promise is mass-transit. Well we already knew about that. The mass transit link to Halifax looks like it will be a route via Queensbury. It is not in the first phase, as far as we know. It will not be as fast as heavy rail. It might even not be rail (advanced buses have been mentioned).
We need improvement on the present “heavy-rail” routes Halifax to Leeds via Bradford plus the routes through Brighouse and beyond – more trains Brighouse-Leeds plus other possible destinations such as Sheffield, Wakefield and York. What Brighouse and Elland need are more frequent trains, not a possible new station that will probably never be built.
The other part of the Bradford plan is a new station that will mean trains from Calderdale to Leeds no longer need to reverse. We suspect the cross-city link Interchange to Forster Square is a bird that has flown. Apart from anything else there is a new shopping centre blocking the route. And running Calder Valley line trains to Leeds via Shipley and the Aire Valley would increase not decrease journey times and create pathing conflicts. Bradford council has suggested redevelopment of the area to the south and east of Bradford Interchange, with a new through station reducing the distance to Leeds and speeding up journey times. Halifax-Leeds could come down from present 35 minutes (give or take) to less than 25 minutes.
The snag is that the suggested station site – at St James wholesale food market – is a good half mile from Hall Ings at the bottom of Bridge St and further out of the city centre than Interchange. Smart transport links would be needed, maybe including mass transit with street running round the city centre and linking up with the Airedale and Wharfedale lines out of Forster Square. Other possibilities might include self-driving “pods”. St James is on the wrong side of a major road junction, but with redevelopment that need not always be the case. And St James is not the only site for a possible new through station though other sites might involve more demolition of property and so greater cost. (An advantage of the St James site is that it belongs to Bradford council and the route from Laisterdyke is former railway land. It also avoids the steep curving incline down to Interchange station.)
We need to look forward with imagination!
And as top-ranked line…we need electrification!
Electrifying the Calder Valley Line was given top ranking across the North nearly nine years ago by the all-party Northern Sparks task force. The government has so far not taken this forward.
Electrification would help the speed improvements we want, to give faster journey times. And electric trains are cheaper to buy, cheaper to operate and cheaper to maintain; they are clean and quiet; they are less complicated and will be more reliable and more energy- efficient than multi-mode units with batteries, hydrogen or whatever. They are essential as we transition – as we must – to zero-carbon.
That is why we need electrification. West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s latest rail strategy (final draft published last summer ) lists the Calder Valley, Harrogate and Dearne Valley (linking with Sheffield) as top priorities going forward.
We are grateful that Calderdale Council has recently renewed its call (previously made in 2018) for Calder Valley line electrification. The call will go to the highest level. In 2018 we launched the Electric Railway Charter and the council supported us.
Look out for more from the Electric Railway Charter early in 2024. – JSW
Halifax and District Rail Action Group 