Calder Valley sparks!

HADRAG intends to co-opt other groups on either side of the Pennines and lead a “Charter” campaign for a rolling programme of rail electrification across the North of England, starting with our own Calder Valley Line. It’s two and a half years now since the Northern Electrification Task Force (NETF) unveiled its Northern Sparks report. A cross-party group of MPs and local authorities supported by professional expertise, the taskforce ranked full Calder Valley line electrification as top scorer on economic, operational and business criteria.

By “full” Calder Valley line the taskforce meant the route from Leeds/Mirfield to both Manchester and Preston, via both Bradford and Brighouse. The assumption was that the Huddersfield Line from Manchester to Leeds and York would already be done by the end of the decade, a hope dashed in summer 2015, as Network Rail struggled with ongoing work, when that scheme, along with Midland Main Line was paused, and then “unpaused” for two years of replanning.

Then earlier this summer the Government (in the person of Chris Grayling MP, Secretary of State for Transport) announced to Parliament that Midland Main Line electrification from Kettering to Sheffield (once paused, then unpaused) was now cancelled, along with the Windermere Branch. There was nothing definite about the Huddersfield Line or any of the NETF schemes, but subsequent quoted comments cast doubt not only on what is now being called “Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade” (TRU) but on rail electrification generally.

The Department for Transport (DfT) seems to be sold on the idea that the North does not need electrification, or perhaps that it can make do with “discontinuous electrification”. Gaps will be left where electrification is too difficult or disruptive—such as through long stretches of tunnel, or where the overhead wiring is judged unsightly. (Is not the latter laughable given the DfT’s enduring love affair with building multi-lane highways through our green and pleasant landscape?) The gaps can be filled by running “state of the art” bi-mode trains. So the new Midland Main Line will have to invest in electro-diesel trains, electrics with underfloor diesel engines to be inefficiently carted about whilst the train is running “under the wires” as well as electric pick-up gear and transformers that will be equally dead weight whilst the train is running on diesel. Surely that must be bad not just for the environment, but also for business too, as energy, running and maintenance costs increase. The idea of electro diesels is not new, but what is now being built, and more proposed, is a complex train with dual traction systems. For “state of the art” should we read “yet to be fully tested in service”?

We’re not sold on electro-diesel bimodes!

The Windermere branch may get “alternative fuel” trains by early next decade — which sounds like a glimmer of hope for more enlightened thinking.  Because diesels, as we all now know, can never be anything but dirty, century-old technology that manufacturers are struggling to clean up whilst maintaining performance. If we care about air quality in our towns and cities we should care about air quality in our train stations. We hear that diesel buses that comply with the latest environmental standards have difficulty climbing Calderdale hills. Of course there are some significant rail gradients on our cross-Pennine tracks. The TransPennine express franchise is getting some new diesel-hauled coaches for its    Liverpool/Manchester-Middlesbrough/Scarborough routes and electro-diesel bimodes for services going to Newcastle and Edinburgh. Even without full Huddersfield line electrification the diesel power will be doing significant mileage under the wires. It seems such a waste. Looking with an engineering eye at the specifications it is not clear whether these trains will perform as well on diesel power as existing trains    between Manchester,

Huddersfield and Leeds. Power to mass ratio and other factors come in. In short, we’re not sold on electro-diesel bimodes even if the DfT is.  For the record we’ll add without comment here that within days of announcing cancellations of electrification schemes and casting doubt on other infrastructure improvements the government not only announced substantial investment in planning London’s Crossrail 2, but also in its air quality plan reminded us of an existing policy to ban the sale of “conventional” petrol and diesel road vehicles by 2040. (The same policy, dating back at least to 2011, aspires to near-total zero-emission road transport by 2050.) Meanwhile planning of HS2, the ultra-high-speed railway between the North and London divides opinion among transport campaigners, and could end up costing the best part of £100 billion, forges ahead.

We should know the scope of the replanned TransPennine Route Upgrade by early next year. How much electrification it includes we shall see. Perhaps not through Standedge Tunnel, perhaps not anywhere between Stalybridge and Huddersfield. But the TRU (Huddersfield Line) is not just electrification. Track enhancements should increase capacity (as well as speed). HADRAG wants to see tracks restored in the Huddersfield/ Mirfield area to allow a better timetable on our Elland/Brighouse line. Mr Grayling has recently announced £5 million for Network Rail to develop plans for “digital signalling” on the Huddersfield Line. This may not be a miracle cure! (See our Back Page.)

Returning to electrification as such, HADRAG and other groups believe the case remains sound, as sound as it was when NETF drew up its list of 32 schemes, ranging in size from the Calder Valley Line downwards, with 12 recommended for Network Rail’s 2019-24 Control Period — including the top scoring Calder Valley itself. What better place to start a rolling programme of electrification across the North? Our line should be next after the Huddersfield Line. We want to orchestrate a cacophony of calls for that.

A start was made in Halifax Town Hall at September’s full council meeting when Calderdale councillors passed a resolution calling on government to recommit to rail development in the north, to a fair balance of investment across the country and more particularly to Calder Valley electrification. From the public gallery it was pleasing to hear arguments that chime with HADRAG’s view. Issues about the cost and disruption of electrification work were rightly raised, but in the end the resolution had all-party support and no member of the council voted against.

For HADRAG’s part, we understand the argument about the need for smarter electrification. Network Rail is learning the lessons of projects in the West of England and Scotland that have proved far more difficult than anticipated. Those lessons are wasted if we do not persevere with a rolling programme.

If clean technology can be used to allow some sections involving tunnels or other obstacles to be left unwired then, maybe, so be it. Electric trains with energy storage have been tested and will surely be part of the solution. Battery technology is moving ahead driven by renewables and (with in-your-face irony) road transport. But dirty diesels, no. -JSW

See HADRAG’s draft Argument’s for Electrification paper via our website:

www.HADRAG.com

Header Image: “Northern Electrics branding” flickr photo by hugh llewelyn https://flickr.com/photos/camperdown/20658157925 shared under a Creative Commons (BY-SA) license

Better trains on the way

Overheard recently: “This is a nice train. Must be one of the new ones.” Well maybe not quite, but new colours appearing increasingly on our trains mean refurbishment by Northern under the Arriva-run franchise. A good start, work in progress — brighter, lighter, more welcoming outside and in. With great patience we await fully operational onboard information, along with the free wifi also promised by end of decade.

We hope Northern will confirm news of more modern Class 170 trains (freed up by Scottish electrification) for Leeds-Brighouse-Manchester trains. Better still, the promise is brand new trains on Calder Valley “Northern Connect” services to Manchester Airport, Chester, Liverpool, Blackpool and York by 2020, to tackle overcrowding as well as modernise the ambience. And Pacers really will be gone.

Header Image: “Northern Rail Class 158 DMU – 158753” flickr photo by Transport Pixels https://flickr.com/photos/levien66/35312717880 shared under a Creative Commons (BY) license

Join us!

HADRAG is centred on Halifax, Brighouse, Elland and Sowerby Bridge. For 32 years we have supported positive development by the train companies, and encouraged greater use of the railway, seeking extensions to services and a better deal for everyday travellers. We believe that through a reasonable, realistic approach as friendly critics who put forward creative ideas, we have gained the respect of railway professionals and transport planners more widely. Over the last year we have held meetings with local MPs and have continued to develop a working relationship with the local council as well as officers at West Yorkshire Combined Authority, business representatives and other local groups. HADRAG’s Chair is a co-opted member of Calderdale council’s transport working group. We want to build on this engagement.

Overcrowding on local trains is a massive problem. We want to get more commuters and other rail users, as well as people who might use the train if the service were a lot better, to join us and get involved. See our contact details below.

It’s good to note that the latest ambitious plans for Elland station reflect very much ideas that HADRAG put forward four years ago. The £20M scheme is moving ahead driven by Calderdale and WYCA. The train operator’s timetable plans contain good news but also sound alarms. We keep pressing for a better service along the Brighouse Line making sure Elland gets full benefit. We have serious concerns over the Calder Valley timetable for 2018, 2019 and beyond, about service patterns and not least for stations that miss out on the new express services. We still want to meet with Arriva as train company to talk about this. Meanwhile, with other train user groups along the line we shall be launching our Electric Charter to press the case for a zero-emissions railway along the Calder Valley Line and across the North.

Rail development is good for the environment and good for local business. The work of HADRAG has been praised by Mid Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce. We have recently been presented with a significant grant from Calderdale Business Trust to help us continue and develop this work. We are most grateful to receive this support and we record our thanks here.

Autumn update 1: Arguments for electrification

DSCF1406HADRAG intends to play a leading role in the campaign for a rolling programme of rail electrification across the North of England. It’s well over two years since the Northern Electrification Task Force (NETF) drew up a list of 32 northern routes and recommended 12 for electrification in the early 2020s. The schemes were scored on economic and operational criteria, and the top ranked scheme was our Calder Valley Line from Leeds to both Manchester and Preston via both Bradford and Brighouse. We say that would follow on naturally from the Huddersfield Line “TransPennine Route Upgrade” scheme, the scope of which should be announced later this autumn.

How much actual electrification of the York-Huddersfield-Manchester route it will involve is now in doubt following government announcements and comments by the Secretary of State for Transport earlier this summer. Talk at the Department of Transport is now of “state of the art” bimode trains that mean sections of line can be left unwired – “discontinuous electrification” – where the constructing masts for overhead wires is deemed too expensive or disruptive.

Many of us think that is short term thinking, bad for business, bad for the environment. What bimode trains really mean is “electro-diesels” and “state of the art” means electric multiple units with diesel engines under the floors. More complexity meaning more to go wrong, higher maintenance costs – and compromised reliability? The diesels take over on sections of line that are not electrified, but mean the whole train is heavier, less energy efficient and more polluting. When the train is running on electricity from the overhead supply, the diesel engine is just dead weight. When it’s on diesel the transformers that handle the 25000V electricity are not being used. More mass means more energy used, means higher running costs, bad for business, bad for the environment.

And train companies seem at present to be creating a glut of modern electric trains. New trains are being ordered and replacing ones that are perfectly serviceable for years more use – if only more lines were electrified to use them! See picture caption below.

So why, when there is more and more talk about electric cars and road transport generally become “greener”, do we seem to be committing our railways to the obsolescent internal combustion engine for another generation? Government aspirations are to stop sale of conventional petrol and diesel road vehicles by 2040 and make road transport almost completely zero-emission by 2050. Surely it’s time we had a plan also for the rail industry to phase out prime movers that damage air quality and damage the climate. HADRAG says the argument for electrification, starting with our own line, remains strong. Yes, there may be innovative solutions for sections with significant lengths of tunnel or other obstacles. We believe future electric trains may be pure electrics with onboard energy storage. Battery technology is leaping ahead driven by renewable energy development and (ironically) electric cars.

HADRAG intends to promote a Charter for Rail Electrification and have written a draft supporting document Arguments for Electrification . Click to read – and prepare to engage in the debate!

DSCF1389
HERE’s one of those “cast-off” trains that came North from London’s travel-to-work area, and a story that shows just one little reason – among many bigger ones – for electrifying more of our railways.  It’s a Class 319 electric train at Liverpool Lime Street station about to work a service to Manchester Airport. From March 2015 the old Northern Rail franchise gave them glossy new colours so that from the outside at least they really did look almost like new. (Now they are beginning to appear in Arriva Rail North’s near-white livery.) Not bad inside either, despite old-fashioned 2+3 seating layout. (A former Northern boss was once heard to say that passengers couldn’t tell them from brand-new trains, but we weren’t sure we quite believed that.) The last “319s” have now ceased service on the Thameslink route between Bedford and Brighton. There were 86 of these 4-car trains. 32 are now with Northern (or about to be). Eight more are to be given diesel engines, becoming electro-diesel “bimodes” called Class 769. The eight should (assuming conversion and testing runs smoothly) enter Northern from next Spring. A further five “769s” have been approved for the Welsh trains franchise. That still leaves nearly half of these decent modern trains, easily upgradable to modern high quality, in store, “off-lease”, awaiting a user. Northern (Arriva) will probably use some of its eight 769s on the Windermere branch, where electrification plans have recently been cancelled by the government. Windermere-Manchester Airport trains seem likely (until brand new stock arrives) to run on diesel on the branch line, and on overhead-wire electric from Oxenholme to the Airport. So heavy internal combustion engines and fuel tanks will be dragged as dead weight under the wires. The promised brand-new stock might have to be pure diesel, though there is a hint of “alternative fuels” – electrics with battery storage maybe – by the early 2020s. It’s not just the 319s – with new franchises down south – not to mention Northern’s neighbour TransPennine Express –  replacing serviceable electrics with brand new stock, there appears to be an increasing glut of electric trains. All the more reason, surely, for a rolling programme of proper electrification, not least across the North of England and starting with our top-ranked Calder Valley Line. Read our draft Arguments for Electrification paper.

 

Summer update: Part 2 – Elland station good news. Ambitious transport hub is another reason to upgrade Brighouse Line timetable!

 

Low Moor 153 edited
Huddersfield-York Sunday train calls at Low Moor station on the recent new station’s first day. In not too many years time this train should also serve Elland. Time for an update on this summer’s good news:

HADRAG welcomes this summer’s major step forward in planning Elland station as an ambitious transport hub, and calls for the Northern train operator to rise to the challenge of upgrading train services on the line. We say with a decent timetable Elland-Leeds by train could take just over 20 minutes. MORE BELOW…

Elland map

In June the combined authority’s West Yorkshire and York investment committee recommended allocation of up to £22million from the West Yorkshire Plus Transport Fund (WY+TF) to an ambitious project that should make the new station at Elland a local transport hub, with pedestrian, bus, park & ride and cycle links, by 2022.

This is a major step forward for Elland, the town that has been waiting for its own railway station since Brighouse opened 17 years ago. The scheme will now move forward towards the next hurdle, outline business case, which should be completed by the end of next year. By then the project will have achieved what Network Rail calls “GRIP 4” – single option development, with detailed design (GRIP 5) following over the next two years.

The £22M (which includes allowance for 20% overrun in delivery costs) buys considerably more than just a simple train station. The key elements of the ambitious  project are:

  • The new station itself, located at Lowfields Way. This would be next to the big “figure of eight” roundabout off the A629 bypass road;
  • Pedestrian, cycle and public realm improvements to link the new station to Elland town centre as well as to surrounding areas of planned employment and housing growth;
  • New footbridge over the River Calder. This will link to the Calder Valley Greenway on the canal bank (Route 66). It will also give good links to the station from the north and west where the Local Plan suggests significant housing growth. Current employers in the area could also benefit with opportunities for “intensification” of activity;
  • New bus infrastructure to enable bus-train interchange at the station, providing sustainable access from a wider catchment area; and
  • Dedicated station car park and highway access to bring in park & ride to bring in passengers from existing and new housing area around the periphery of the town.

This sounds very much like the sort of local transport hub that HADRAG called for just four years ago after we held our 2013 annual meeting in Elland .

We understand the car park could be built on two levels, and hope bus operators will be persuaded to provide services linking the station and all the surrounding communities. Sustainable commuting and leisure also look to be encouraged by the scheme. We look forward to being able to access the station on foot or with a bike from the canalside “green” route.

The station also has an obvious potential role in hospital transport for staff, patients and visitors. Could shuttle buses linking the two NHS sites at Calderdale (Salterhebble) and Huddersfield (Lindley) be developed to call at Elland station?

In terms of the local community, HADRAG says Elland station, with good park & ride and sustainable transport links should be seen as serving not just Elland itself but also Greetland and Stainland, a total “Greater Elland” population of more than 20,000. As such the station will have a catchment as populous as the areas served by stations like Brighouse or Sowerby Bridge. In fact we reckon any one of Sowerby Bridge, Elland or Brighouse stations potentially serves as big a population as the two main upper Calderdale stations – Todmorden and Hebden Bridge – combined.

Upper valley-Elland-Brighouse rail corridor: we hope for timetable improvements!

But of course Todmorden and Hebden Bridge, along with Halifax, currently have almost double the train service level of either Sowerby Bridge or Brighouse. Sowerby Bridge (and Mytholmroyd) should see some improvement next year with the Blackpool-York trains stopping. We really hope Northern will build on that at the end of 2019 when the next big timetable recast comes. And of course HADRAG continues to argue the case with train operator Northern for a better deal for the Brighouse corridor. In our response to Northern’s timetable plans we have specifically asked for future timetables to include make allowance for all trains that currently stop at Brighouse also to serve Elland. We have also want the Manchester-Rochdale-Brighouse-Leeds “valley bottom service” to run later at night and on Sundays, something that does not, so far, seem to feature in Northern’s plans.

As an ambitious transport hub, Elland station will be another reason to upgrade the timetable. Opening 22 years after neighbouring Brighouse, the new station may still seem frustratingly in the future. But at least by 2022 we hope there may be further timetable improvements. Under the existing service patterns, Elland would be served by hourly trains on the Manchester-Brighouse-Leeds and Huddersfield-Bradford-Leeds routes, effectively an hourly stopping service to key destinations. We have joined our colleagues in the Upper Calder Valley Renaissance Sustainable Transport Group in calling for a service from the upper Calder Valley to Huddersfield, meeting commuting, educational and other sources of demand. That would give an additional service along the Sowerby Bridge-Elland-Brighouse corridor. But we also need better services Elland/Brighouse-Leeds.

Potential for fast journey to Leeds

We want Northern, Network Rail and their train planners to rise to the challenge of providing an upgraded timetable for Elland/Brighouse rail corridor. It probably needs some capacity improvements in the Huddersfield and Mirfield area as well as a more ambitious approach by the train operator.

Finally, HADRAG has repeatedly, over may years, pointed out the potential to speed up trains on the direct Brighouse-Dewsbury-Leeds route. At present Brighouse-Leeds takes about 34 minutes, calling at nearly all stations. So that would be 37-38 minutes from Elland. A fast service, with maybe just intermediate stop, would easily cut the Brighouse-Leeds journey to 20 minutes. So stations all the way up the valley would get a Leeds service that could be 10-15 minutes faster than at present. Elland-Leeds could be about 23 minutes.

What could go wrong? One complication is the TransPennine Route Upgrade. This is the project that was meant to include Huddersfield Line electrification, though it sounds increasingly as though it may not. With or without electrification there is likely to be upgrade work to improve capacity that will mean diversions of TransPennine Express via the Calder Valley line while the work is going on. The plan seems to be that this will be completed before Elland opens. Fingers crossed, then. -JSW

Summer Update: Part 1 – helping Northern to get the May 2018 timetable right

GC BDI Sept16
Northern currently uses a 5-carriage Grand Central train, like this one at Bradford, to provide an extra morning commuter train from Halifax to Leeds. It’s looking like this train, the 0728 from Halifax (lovingly known to some commuters as the Halifax Pullman!) could disappear at the May 2018 timetable change. The hope is that the train company will have enough extra carriages by next May to compensate for this loss. The fear is there will be a gap of more than 20 minutes in the Halifax-Leeds timetable at a key time for commuters, and even worse overcrowding than at present on other trains. HADRAG wants this train to stay in Northern’s timetable at least until all the new rolling stock – currently being built in Spain – is in service, probably by 2020.

HADRAG, you may have gathered, has not been idle over the summer. (And summer’s not over yet.) We were pleased to be included in the consultation by Arriva Rail North (aka our Northern train operating company) on proposals for the May 2018 timetable change. May’18 will be the first big timetable recast under the 9-year franchise that started in April last year and should bring serious upgrades to the service on our Calder Valley Line (CVL) including regular trains via the soon-to-be-completed Ordsall Chord to Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Airport (18 months earlier than expected), as well trains to Chester. Other pleasant surprises, including regular Blackpool-York trains (our popular Roses Rail Link) serving Sowerby Bridge and Mytholmroyd. There are also less palatable and perhaps unintended consequences such as the same two local stations, if a circulated draft timetable is to be believed, losing services to Manchester on Sundays. And, having digested a graphic service pattern displayed by Northern regional director at HADRAG’s AGM, we have fears for service levels at local stations when the next big change takes place in December 2019.

The question is: Can the enhancements be introduced without damaging the service for existing users, not least regular Calderdale commuters who work in Leeds or Manchester, and people who use the Brighouse line for example to travel between upper Calderdale and Huddersfield?

We hope so, but the circulated draft timetable suggests that the train company may be struggling. Read on…

HADRAG worked with Hebden Bridge and Todmorden-based colleagues in the Upper Calder Valley Renaissance Sustainable Transport Group (UCVRSTG) to produce a detailed joint response to Northern’s timetable consultation. There are certainly things to welcome (some unexpected) but we have identified a list of serious concerns about the effect on service patterns and connectivity for existing passengers. In this we believe we are in good company. As a statutory consultee, the county transport body West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA), representing the five district authorities, submitted its own detailed comments and was reported as expressing fears the service pattern between Leeds and Halifax would be markedly worse than the present timetable.

Anxious to be positive, we welcome headline developments proposed by Northern for the Calder Valley line in May next year:

  • Bradford, Halifax and Hebden Bridge and Todmorden will have direct trains to Manchester Airport. These trains are expected to operate hourly, 7-days a week, via the Ordsall Curve, the new line due to be completed later this year that will allow trains from the Calder Valley as well as from the TransPennine route via Huddersfield to continue beyond Manchester Victoria and turn left to access Oxford Road and Piccadilly stations and continue to the Airport.
  • The other CVL Manchester train each hour will continue to Warrington Bank Quay and Chester. This will maintain a Warrington-Leeds link (withdrawn by TransPennine Express), and open up the possibility of connections from our area for Cheshire, Staffordshire, the West Midlands and Wales.
  • Sowerby Bridge and Mytholmroyd will be served by the hourly York-Halifax-Blackpool semi-fast trains (what we still call the “Roses Rail Link”), increasing train frequency at these two stations from 2 to 3 trains/hour to Leeds and from 1 to 2 trains/hr to Halifax and Bradford. But there are big problems with the proposed Sunday service, and fears that what is given in May 2018 may be taken away in December 2019. 
  • The “Roses” trains will also run fast Leeds-York (with one stop, at Church Fenton). On the face of it this ought to speed-up Calderdale-York journeys, but the benefit is partly neutralised by extended dwell times in Leeds stations (which may or may not improve reliability).

BUT: Despite the headline improvements, we can only agree with reported WYCA comments that the proposed timetable could lead to a “markedly worse” service between Leeds and Calderdale. Serious concerns identified by HADRAG and UCVRSTG include:

  • Uneven “clockface pattern” of services, effectively damaging service frequency.
    • We say the train company needs to rethink the proposed timetable that shows, for example, a 4 trains/hour Leeds-Halifax pattern at xx08, 19, 42 and 49 past the hour – intervals of 11, 23, 7 and 20 minutes, a mockery of the ideal even 15-minute frequency. The train at xx19 actually catches up with the preceding xx08 (which is the Brighouse and Huddersfield train calling at Low Moor) and these two trains are planned to be within 6 minutes of each other at Halifax?
    • Hebden Bridge departures for Leeds are shown as xx14, 28, 42, 50 followed by 24 minute gap before the next xx14.
    • Under the same heading the xx08 service from Leeds to Huddersfield via Bradford and Brighouse is actually overtaken by the xx22 Leeds-Brighouse-Manchester train, effectively making Leeds-Brighouse frequency just one useful train per hour.
  • Disappointing Sunday services:
    • No direct Sunday service Mytholmroyd and Sowerby Bridge to Manchester (Sunday trains at these two valley stations are planned to go to Blackpool instead). Connections at Hebden Brige are not, shall we say, particularly attractive.
    • Lack of plans for Sunday service Leeds-Brighouse-upper Calderdale-Manchester, which we say overlooks potential for weekend work and leisure travel. Sunday service plans for Brighouse appear to be no more than an hourly service on the Leeds-Halifax-Huddersfield route, which is at least better than the present 2-hourly.
  • Early morning trains
    • An existing popular early Brighouse-Leeds direct train at 0702 is missing from the draft timetable which implies users of this service would have to go the long way round via Bradford. Surely this must be a mistake. We hope so.
    • Proposed loss of the popular extra Halifax-Leeds morning commuter train that leaves at 0728 and uses a 5-carriage intercity train unit supplied by sister Arriva company Grand Central. By proposed loss we mean it is not shown in the draft May’18 timetable, leaving a gap in the proposed Halifax-Leeds service between 0718 and 0741. That’s a 23 minute service interval at the busiest time of the day (what price quarter-hourly?). We fear this will lead to even worse morning overcrowding than is seen now. Obviously, the train company is planning for additional rolling stock to be available by May 2018.  But we fear withdrawal of this popular train which uses the best rolling stock currently in use on Northern could lead to poorer comfort standards and even worse overcrowding than is seen on many trains now. The groups want the “Halifax Pullman” – as we call this intercity-style Halifax-Leeds train – to be retained at least until all of the new rolling stock is in service. (And HADRAG has already expressed concern as to whether all the new carriages on order will be enough.)
  • Extended journey times on some routes. Good news that the Monday-Saturday Leeds-Brighouse-Manchester service is to run fast Rochdale to Manchester is negated by a proposed six-minute increase in journey time Brighouse-Sowerby Bridge. Brighouse-Huddersfield journey time is shown as 19 minutes – which just seems ridiculous. We can’t see any reason for this in terms of pathing into Huddersfield. So maybe it’s a mistake. Again, let’s hope so.
  • Loss of late evening trains from Manchester to intermediate stations such as Walsden, Mytholmroyd and Sowerby Bridge in the draft timetable. This seems to be another unintended consequence. We think they might be able to sort it out.
  • Loss of upper Calderdale to Huddersfield connections at Brighouse. This is a particular concern of HADRAG’s upper valley colleagues, and we agree with them! We say that there is significant latent demand for direct services between upper valley stations and Huddersfield for work and educational purposes, but the proposed timetable changes will actually discourage such travel by rail.
  • Continuing lack of direct trains Littleborough/Walsden-Bradford/Halifax

We want to meet the train planners!

We duly submitted our detailed joint response to the train company’s stakeholder consultation in a 21-page paper earlier this summer. HADRAG and UCVRSTG are now seeking a further meeting with senior Northern managers to press our case. We are awaiting a response to this request.  

Anyone who has followed HADRAG over the years knows that we do not seek to find fault unreasonably, to complain unduly, or to carp; rather we support positive initiatives by the rail businesses and transport agencies to improve services, whilst putting forward our own ideas. In that spirit we have, with our colleagues further up the valley, submitted constructive criticisms in the hope that we can help Northern to develop a good timetable for May 2018 by pointing out some serious issues for existing rail users.

The 2019 threat

HADRAG and UCVRSTG’s response contains a “SWOT analysis” – strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats – of Northern’s timetable proposals.

We have a further issue about what we know about plans for the next big timetable change in December 2019. At HADRAG’s 2017 annual general meeting in May, our guest speaker Paul Barnfield, Northern’s regional director, gave a presentation which included graphics showing service patterns for 2018 and 2019. Good news, as expected, is that the December 2019 graphic showed 3 trains/hour Bradford-Manchester. The bad news was that all three of these trains were shown as running non-stop Halifax-Hebden Bridge, reducing the Manchester service at Sowerby Bridge and Mytholmroyd from twice-hourly to just one train per hour. This is surely not acceptable.

There also appears currently to be no proposal to improve service frequency at the new Low Moor station. Low Moor needs a Manchester service to stop each hour as well as the Leeds-Halifax-Huddersfield trains.

And we think the benefits of the investment in the new Ordsall Chord line crossing Manchester should be spread as widely as possible with stations like Sowerby Bridge being served by trains to Manchester Airport. HADRAG believes the catchment area for Sowerby Bridge station is at least as great in population terms as Hebden Bridge and Todmorden combined. Yet Sowerby Bridge at present has about half the service level of the two upper valley stations.

The same is true, in terms of potential catchment, of Brighouse, and of the planned new station at Elland. HADRAG will continue to press the case for further improvement at Sowerby Bridge, from December 2019, with the May 2018 timetable as absolute baseline minimum service level. Beyond 2019 we want a better deal for the Brighouse corridor including Elland. Remember a potential non-stop Brighouse-Leeds journey time of under 20 minutes makes this potentially the fastest route from upper Calderdale to Leeds. Then there is the need for better connectivity between upper valley stations and Huddersfield, a journey that is positively discouraged by the May 2018 proposals as they currently stand.

In a news release to local and regional media, Stephen Waring, Chair of HADRAG commented:

“We know Northern want to improve our services under the franchise agreement. We have put forward constructive criticisms on what is currently proposed. We want passengers to be able to welcome the May 2018 timetable when it is finalised not greet it with a storm of protest. We are delighted that our present York-Halifax-Blackpool semi-fast trains linking towns across the North are going to be stopping at Sowerby Bridge and Mytholmroyd. That’s something HADRAG has called for over many years.  

 “But we are disappointed with aspects of the proposals that make the service less attractive for existing users, let alone attract new passengers. We are not alone in criticising the proposals because we know the county’s official transport body, West Yorkshire Combined Authority has said the Leeds-Calderdale service could be markedly worse. 

“We are glad about the extra trains stopping at Sowerby Bridge and Mytholmroyd, but we have seen information shared by Northern that suggests service frequency at these stations could actually be cut again in December 2019 when many of our trains become “Northern Connect” expresses. This would surely not be acceptable.

 “We are hoping to meet Northern again to find out firstly how they hope to improve on the May 2018 proposals which as they stand are simply not good enough. Secondly, we hope they can assure us about future developments, not least to improve services on the Brighouse line ready for opening of Elland station, hopefully by 2022. Brighouse still gets a poor deal; more is needed.”

For the upper valley, Nina Smith, Chair of UCVRSTG commented:

 “Whilst we warmly welcome the new trains to the Airport, Chester and Southport, and a later train to Sowerby Bridge, Mytholmroyd and Hebden Bridge from Leeds, we are very concerned about the uneven pattern of trains from Leeds and Manchester to the upper valley stations, which will mean people who just miss a train could have to wait nearly half an hour for the next one.

 “We are also concerned that the opportunity presented by a major timetable recast has not been used to provide good interchange in both directions for people travelling between the upper valley stations and Huddersfield. This is a growing commuter flow, especially with staff and students for Huddersfield University, and our longer term goal is for a direct upper valley to Huddersfield service.

 “Finally, we were hoping that the May 2108 timetable would include early morning Sunday trains to Leeds and Manchester. Sundays are now as important for rail travellers as other days.” 

Parking Question

A couple of things stark-staringly obvious about Halifax station approach: you can’t park after 06.30 in the morning; and whenever a big train arrives there is a veritable chaos of cars, taxis, pedestrians and the occasional two-wheeler, with vehicles trying to get in to pick up while others are leaving. Pedestrian provision is limited to a footway on one side only, leading to highway-code defying behaviour. A sensible idea would take parking off the bridge, leaving more room for pedestrians (and perhaps taxis and drop-off). Many would say transformed access arrangements should at least double the current amount of rail users’ parking, perhaps with a 2-level car park. But do we really want to encourage more and more people to access Halifax station by car increasing road congestion at the bottom of town? Might it be better to develop best possible access for pedestrians, buses, cycles, disabled and pick-up/drop-off whilst developing neighbouring stations such as Sowerby Bridge and Brighouse for park and ride? Both would require enlarged car parks, and improved train services to match. Just a thought !

Crossing the City

Calder Valley Line (CVL) trains are expected to be running across Manchester via the new Ordsall curve at the end of this year. Northern has consulted on the December 2017 timetable change. Daytime off-peak, the hourly semi-fast Leeds (xx18), Halifax (xx54) trains to Manchester Vic will continue to Oxford Road station, serving the south side of the city directly from our area for the first time. The intention is for these trains to be extended to Manchester Airport in May 2018. Though only off-peak for now this is good news because the franchise “train service requirement” (TSR) does not specify through CVL trains to Manchester Airport until the additional hourly Bradford-Manchester service is introduced at the December 2019 change (known as TSR3).

Also in the December 2017 timetable, there will be some extra Rochdale-Manchester stoppers at peak hours. This will allow a small number of Leeds-Brighouse-Todmorden-Manchester trains to run non-stop Rochdale-Victoria. Hopefully this will improve both journey time and reliability. We have not yet been told whether the intention is for all of these trains to do this, which would improve the Brighouse-Manchester journey. HADRAG has of course repeatedly said we would like the Brighouse trains to become semi-fast west of Todmorden.

Major recasting of the timetable is delayed until (hopefully no later than) May 2018 in a “phased introduction” of the original December 2017 plans—”TSR2″. The cascade of second-hand trains from other franchises is behind schedule because of projects elsewhere running late. The Great Western Railway franchise can not release diesels to Northern until Network Rail electrification work is complete and GWR can run electric trains.

The latest we know however is that May 2018 should implement “full TSR2”, which should mean extension of the other hourly Calder Valley Manchester train to Chester. It should also mean Brighouse Sunday services modestly improved (hourly instead of 2-hourly Leeds-Bradford-Huddersfield), and half-hourly on Sundays Bradford-Manchester, including an hourly Sunday service to the Airport.

HADRAG insisted on making detailed comments on the December 2017 timetable consultation. The May’18 consultation is due anytime now and we expect to be included in that too!

We continue to argue the case for more trains stopping at Sowerby Bridge, both the York-Blackpools and the extras to be introduced in 2019. We believe the linespeed improvements and new rolling stock should enable this without unduly compromising the journey time commitment. Looking at catchment areas and population HADRAG believes Sowerby Bridge station potentially serves as many local people as Hebden Bridge and Todmorden put together, despite having little more than half the service level. We have also supported the submission by our colleagues in the Rochdale/Oldham group STORM for a better service at Littleborough.

We think Halifax-Leeds will be five trains per hour by the end of 2019, though again that seems to be implied rather than confirmed. It was promised back in December 2015 when the Arriva franchise was announced and is consistent with a map of “Northern Connect” routes published with the Dec’17 consultation. All CVL Manchester trains via Halifax (but not the ones via Brighouse) will be of “regional express” quality by the end of 2019. All of these Halifax trains (3/hour by 2019) look to be going through to Leeds, plus the Blackpool-York trains (also NC) plus the local Huddersfield-Brighouse-Bradford-Leeds. So that looks like 5-an-hour. By the way, we hear the Huddersfield-Bradford-Leeds service will linked with a new Leeds-Hull-Bridlington service (by Dec’19) giving an hourly Brighouse-Brid through train!

Obviously Brighouse needs a lot more than that. We keep mentioning the need to speed up Brighouse-Todmorden-Manchester trains. “Turbostar” trains cascaded from Scotland could help. Improvements Brighouse into Leeds will depend on outputs of the TransPennine Route Upgrade—that’s the project that includes Huddersfield Line electrification— sometime in the 2020s. Semi-fast Leeds-Manchester via Brighouse and Rochdale would surely make sense.

But with all this talk of service development the elephant in the room is the sardine-can conditions in which many of our peak-time commuters endure their daily journeys to and from work in Leeds and Manchester. We were angry last year when the “market” grabbed good trains from the North for the Chilterns, indirectly cutting seats for Calderdale commuters. We were thankful when Northern arranged with sister Arriva company Grand Central to put on a comfortable extra train Halifax-Leeds. More of these initiatives are needed.

Brand-new trains come to our line from December 2018 plus refurbished “cascades” from other companies. A 37% increase in morning capacity is promised across the franchise by 2020. Will that be enough? Will it be soon enough? What (if anything) more can be done while we are waiting?

And what, indeed, is the economic value to society of city workers arriving in a relaxed state and getting home rested, not frazzled by the return journey? Has anyone quantified this? Or is it simply unmeasurable, meaning it does not count?

HADRAG will continue to put the case for more. —JSW

 

Featured Image: “castlefield chord illustration4” flickr photo by mwmbwls https://flickr.com/photos/mwmbwls/8222513415 shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-SA) license

Lansdslip, Signal Woes

Commuters reported confusion down at the station after another landslip at Salterhebble blocked the Halifax-Sowerby Bridge route in early March. Trains were diverted Sowerby-Leeds via Brighouse, and a limited Leeds-Halifax/Huddersfield service was maintained, so canny users could get a train to Brighouse and pick up diverted services there (though a separate problem in East Lancs delayed Blackpool-York trains). Thankfully Network Rail got the line clear by teatime the day after the landslip. A speed restriction remained in place at time of writing, whilst work continued to stabilise the cutting under Dudwell Lane. We were disappointed more trains were not diverted between Halifax and Sowerby Bridge by reversing at Greetland, which might have maintained a train service Sowerby Bridge-Bradford during the blockage and provided better for Halifax. We think this sort of thing happened in the past, but hear that the signals at Greetland now only allow such a move in one direction. Progress? Perhaps not.

Image courtesy Network Rail Media Centre.

What, no gates?

Northern were to install automatic ticket gates at Halifax by the end of March.

Shelving for a moment the question of whether or not passengers actually want these awkward barriers, there are franchise targets to meet which seem to mean gating as many stations as possible. Oh, but hang on, it’s now April and no Halifax gates. They’re going in somewhere else first (possibly Skipton, we heard). Apparently there is concern over increased loading on Halifax’s 19th century footbridge when large crowds are queuing to get through. So Halifax gates are postponed (just postponed).

Our station is pretty congested now and could see more massive crowds in future, when, for example, there are big events at the Piece Hall. It’s obvious gates mean delays and queues, inconvenience for people with disabilities, and potential mishaps as people juggle tickets, bags, small children, dogs and cartons of hot drink. But if structural strength of the footbridge is an issue could that be a game changer? Maintenance on the road approach bridge is on hold pending a decision on whether it goes or stays. Currently a weight limit prevents large buses getting near the station entrance. One view says pull the lot down, build a new station building at ground level, have level access to a regenerated Platform 3 and a subway to the island platform utilising space underneath the arches. Some of us (maybe including some rail professionals) wonder if the subway idea is feasible. So maybe what’s needed is a new bridge. Or bridges.