Waiting for news on New Stations

New White Rose station (Leeds) has been on hold since March, construction halted by increased costs. No date yet for restart, which must surely happen. Inflation has hit a number of projects. (Halifax station gateway is on a back burner, to put it politely. And there is still no starting date for Elland.

On paper completion should be late 2026, less than 2 years away, but White Rose raises a new worry. Outside the Elland site with a TV reporter, passers-by said they had bought new houses 20-odd years ago, when selling point was a train station.

Some of these local residents are now nearing retirement, having been driving cars to work for a quarter of a century. If only Elland, predicted to be at least as successful as Brighouse, had opened at the same time back in May 2000. Elland was always more complex to build, as we have seen with the recent saga of design upgrades. 2026 will be 26 years late and counting. But let’s keep the faith.

TRU Works: Raw Deal for the Brighouse Line

On the Calder Valley line, Brighouse had fastest passenger growth, percentage-wise, for more than 10years before the pandemic. It’s a station with massive potential, but services are now being disrupted for work on the TransPennine Route Upgrade (TRU). The present timetable, June to December, has several dates when services change. When TRU work is happening at Huddersfield, Brighouse is used as a railhead and there are bus replacements for Northern Huddersfield-Halifax trains, plus shuttles Brighouse-Hud for TPE passengers. It is good to see lots of intercity passengers using Brighouse station, but they do not always have an easy time (more on that later).

When the direct line through Dewsbury to Leeds is being worked on, Northern’s Wigan-Manchester- Brighouse-Leeds trains are diverted via Halifax and Bradford, with a bus link Halifax, Brighouse and intermediate stations to Leeds. Leeds-Brighouse takes 65 to 75 minutes on the replacement bus, compared with 35 min on the train. Passengers from upper Calderdale and beyond to Brighouse, Mirfield, Dewsbury etc have to change at Halifax, again with significant journey time penalty. We thought it would be better to divert the Brighouse “valley bottom” service via Wakefield. This would maintain a service for Brighouse and Mirfield.

So we raised it with Northern and TPE contacts and received a prompt reply. The situation is “quite complex”, with both paths (fitting trains in) and platforms at Leeds. Capacity is reduced by freight paths as well as diversions of TPE trains. (We could interpret this as meaning TPE expresses have the advantage over Northern stoppers.) HADRAG may not be quite ready to give up on this. We support the work being done on the TP upgrade. But this work will go on for some time, and it seems wrong that Brighouse passengers are being penalised.

Our email also mentioned the confusing situation with replacement bus stops. The buses stop outside the Brighouse station car park. There are some small, not terribly prominent arrow signs supposedly directing people to the buses. Unfortunately the ones from the westbound platform send you up the steps (though the ramps could also be used) and the along to Huddersfield Rd where there is a bus stop but for service buses, not the rail replacements. People have missed the onward transport because of this. Staff posted on the station do a good job helping people. We gather whenever the bus is due staff go up to collect passengers from the wrong bus stop and bring them to the right one. Could you make this up?

There have been problems with vandalism of the arrow signs, which are fixed to lamp posts using that ultra- modern fixing, the cable tie. Northern/TPE are “considering more permanent signage”.

Finally we mentioned the West Yorkshire Combined Authority rail strategy and the need for progress to deliver a better service for Brighouse – and indeed Elland. How does this fit in with plans post-TRU? What about capacity of the 2-track Dewsbury route, with potential of a fast (limited stop) journey of 20 minutes Brighouse-Leeds? The answer was that Northern and TPE are working with “partners in WYCA, the TRU programme and wider industry to understand what can be delivered in terms of future service patterns”, with a reference to “lots of moving parts”.

The Two Network Norths!

Colin Elliff, speaker at HADRAG’s AGM, leads Network North Ltd along with Quentin MacDonald. Both are graduate chartered engineers (BSc, CEng); Colin, based in North Yorkshire, is a civil engineer so he knows what is possible in terms of building new railways. Colin’s group has been using the name Network North since early 2019.

The government recently (October 2023) created another Network North, the billed cost-cutting substitute for Northern Powerhouse Rail. The October 2023 government proposal is described by Colin’s group as “a ragbag of road and rail schemes locates all across the country making a mockery of the name Network North”.

Colin and Quentin’s Network North Ltd has designed a rail network that “fully interlinks all of the principal cities and conurbations lying in the Northern Powerhouse – home to 16 million people”. Their flyer says: “Network North Ltd has been formed to promote the designs of Network 2020 Ltd which are the work of professional railway engineers. ”

For an overview see schematic map.

The map (this is the latest version) shows a new route from Halifax to Rochdale, both of which stations would be served, giving a journey time of about 30 minutes Bradford to Manchester. We think that includes stops at Halifax and Rochdale. It also shows a reopened the Woodhead Route linking Liverpool with both Sheffield and Leeds. Some of us have mixed feelings about that.

Benefits of whole plan

The new “Calder Valley Corridor” line would be in tunnel for maybe about 20km (12½ mile) from near Halifax to near Littleborough. Halifax to Manchester would take about 20 minutes, so the line through Rochdale would also need a substantial upgrade. Where would the tunnel start? Halifax station? Salterhebble? Would there need to be a new viaduct across the Calder Valley somewhere near Copley?

The flier list benefits of the whole scheme from Liverpool to Hull and Newcastle as linking all Northern Powerhouse cities using: 272km of new railway, 45 km of reopened routes, 350 km of existing railway upgraded.

Cost has been estimated by rail consultant Michael Byng at £40 billion. The package is described as:

  • meeting all Transport for the North targets for intercity journey times;
  • transforming connectivity and capacity – including “local capacity dividend”;
  • integrates with High Speed UK scheme for national high speed network;
  • delivers optimised national integrated rail plan, outperforming official proposals by an order of magnitude, with far greater connectivity locally, regionally and nationally, and far greater journey time reductions.

Worth noting that the Network North Ltd map shows the Calder Valley route between Halifax and Preston linked to Huddersfield and on to Sheffield. No journey times are indicated for this corridor. Would these services would run via the existing Penistone line? HADRAG would like to see services from Bradford to Sheffield via the Crigglestone curve and Barnsley. These would take significantly longer than the Network North proposed Bradford-Sheffield service, but would give a much needed semi-fast link south from Calderdale. Brighouse-Sheffield journey could be about 50 minutes with existing tracks. Network North Ltd shows a Bradford-Sheffield journey of 27 minutes via Dewsbury (“Interchange”). That must involve a route through the Spen Valley and a new high speed line, joining another one from Leeds, with a delta junction somewhere near Barnsley. The delta junction would link Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester (via Woodhead) routes. This ideas goes back decades and has its strengths but an also a big environmental impact.

One thing not on Colin’s map is the 2023 government-proposed Bradford-Huddersfield line, rumoured to be using the old formation through Bailiff Bridge. Part of the other Network North and probably a judicious omission.

Is this all fantasy? Certainly it is not on any political agenda right now (though the line through Bailiff Bridge might be). What becomes of NPR and either brand of Network North remains to be seen.

HADRAG has never been an advocate of long term mega-projects. We want improvements in the next few years on our existing routes, including the route through Hebden Bridge to Manchester serving all the intermediate stations. We need trains with more carriages, so people do not have to stand on Sunday mornings! More services on the Brighouse line, and Elland station. All this can benefit present passengers – actual and would be – in the foreseeable future.

Calder Valley and Halifax rail: time to plan upgrades!

Letter from The Halifax & District Rail Action Group and Electric Railway Charter to election candidates, councillors, WYCA members

1. Fully electric train operation is the most energy efficient means of operating railways

…a key objective in a world that must strive to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions, notably CO2. Compared with diesel or bi/tri-mode trains pure electric trains are

  • simple, cheaper to build; reliable, cheaper to maintain; by 66%
  • lightweight giving faster acceleration and ability to serve more stops and carry more passengers;
  • more capable of using regenerative braking returning energy to the supply system.

Electrification is capital investment. Future payback will come through a railway that is less costly to operate, attracting more passengers, stimulating employment – and zero-carbon.

We welcome the recent West Yorkshire Combined Authority rail strategy. It is pleasing to see WYCA sticking to its guns and advocating electrification including the full Calder Valley. This and the government-proposed Leeds- Bradford electrification must seen as one scheme. The Calder Valley routes do require full electrification. Hybrid trains with multiple traction systems are heavier, waste more energy, and are potentially less reliable. By full we mean the whole route through Bradford and Brighouse to upper Calderdale. Manchester, Preston and beyond.

The full Calder Valley line was of course the top-ranked scheme in the cross-party task force Northern Sparks report 9 years ago EFT Report FINAL web.odf (transportforthenorth.com). Since then we have seen numerous other reports calling for electrification of most routes. Following Northern Sparks, campaigning groups along the Calder Valley lines launched the Electric Railway Charter. We are pleased that Calderdale Council has now twice passed resolutions calling for rail electrification. A rolling programme of electrification will reduce costs, and make the investment pay, by building up and carrying forward engineering expertise. No more stop-start.

2. Calder Valley line services – York/Hull and Leeds to Halifax/Brighouse, upper Calderdale, Manchester, Chester and Lancashire, plus Bradford-Huddersfield are due an upgrade: capacity, service, and speed.

Service improvements can be made with existing infrastructure, but we welcome proposals in the WYCA strategy for additional tracks that would allow passenger trains to overtake slower freights. Upgrades need to be made before electrification work starts. Meantime, we look for:

  • improved pattern; trains better coordinated between different services on the line;
  • new services so Calderdale can, for example, get across Manchester to access jobs, leisure destinations and connections. A service to Manchester Airport originally, promised for 2018 now, seems to be some years from delivery. This would build on existing Chester service.
  • all trains to call Sowerby Bridge – station with second fastest percentage passenger growth in Calderdale pre-pandemic, based on Office of Road and Rail (ORR) figures over a decade;
  • better service on Brighouse line – doubling frequency, faster trains direct to Leeds as suggested in WYCA rail strategy. Brighouse had fastest passenger percentage growth of… all Calder Valley line stations pre-pandemic. We also need better services N-S, Bradford-Huddersfield or Sheffield. HADRAG supports the list of possible reopening schemes mentioned on p68-9 of WYCA rail strategy – including the Crigglestone link for direct trains Bradford and Calderdale to Sheffield with attractive journey times.
  • Elland station – how can we get this started? Originally proposed 25 years ago!
  • new trains designed for passenger comfort – let’s think about access for disabled people, families, adequate toilets, view out of window, and of course provision for bikes.

3. Bradford issues

Many of us support the idea of a new through station in Bradford that would eliminate the need for trains to reverse. It would increase capacity, and cut journey times Calderdale-Leeds. For example Halifax- Leeds could come down from around 35 minutes now to 25 minutes or less. There is concern about the proposed new Bradford station site:

St James’ market has been suggested but is remote from the city centre. We ask whether:

  • other more convenient sites are being considered; and whether
  • account has been taken of effect on journey times for Calderdale-Bradford passengers.

We hope mass transit (see below) will provide a good, frequent link across the city centre reaching Forster Square at least, and open at same time as the new heavy-rail station.

4. Bradford and “Network North”.

The 30 minute Bradford-Manchester journey time suggested for a route swinging round via Huddersfield seems optimistic, dependent on capacity west of Huddersfield, and potentially locally disruptive to build, with no visible local benefit for Calderdale communities. We can see people in Bailiff Bridge and Brighouse objecting to one suggested route. So: ⦁ Would it not be better to upgrade the Calder Valley, line? With modest linespeed and capacity improvements, and electrification, Bradford-Manchester journey time would be reduced to little more than 40 minutes, perhaps less, including two stops (Halifax and Rochdale). Semi-fast services would operate between the fasts serving all stations Bradford to Todmorden. Benefits in our lifetime for Bradford and Calderdale. ⦁ A later phase might include a new high speed route, in tunnel Halifax-Littleborough, reducing the timing to about 30 minutes again with 2 stops. This is more fanciful but not impossible.

5. On mass transit we look forward to proposals about to emerge, and the upcoming consultation on initial routes. But it may be a decade before mass transit reaches Calderdale.

So: Mass transit must not be seen as a substitute for improving the heavy-rail Calder Valley line service including its branches through Elland and Brighouse, and the York-Blackpool trains. Mass transit does not mean fast transit.

Achievable heavy rail improvements can be delivered much more quickly, benefitting existing and would- be passengers. In our lifetime!

6. A major question is how any of the above is to be funded.

Rail development must be seen as investment in the interests of a green economy. It must be seen as affordable.

As concerned local campaigners HADRAG members would be happy to meet elected representatives or officers of the combined/local authorities either in public and/or in a small-group meeting. After the election, of course. Massive thanks to you for reading this. Map overleaf may be helpful. Looking forward to any response you are able to give or any questions you may have, with best wishes, Stephen

Could mass transit could bridge Bradford gap?

The March WYCA meeting also set in motion plans to bring buses under local control by franchising routes. And the first two mass transit (tram) routes are expected to move forward, with consultation this summer on latest plans, hopefully more detailed than we have seen so far.

No surprise that the first two lines will be in Leeds -St James’s hospital to Elland Road and White Rose centre – and Bradford. The Leeds-Bradford route is expected to serve the proposed new rail station, and cross the city to Forster Square. So Bradford’s two rail lines will at last be linked – presumably by street-running light rail units. This could help to make sense of the new station proposal by bridging the gap. Next phase could be Leeds-Dewsbury.

It may be some years before mass transit reaches Calderdale.

We look forward to that but need our heavy-rail Calder Valley line to be upgraded first.

Trans Pennine on the up, we hope

TransPennine Express brought in temporary service cuts in the 2023-4 timetable in an effort to improve performance. Early signs are that the tactic is working. Crew training issues have been eased with withdrawal of loco-hauled push-pull sets. Four trains/day run Manchester-Huddersfield-Wakefield-York, hopefully to become hourly in December. But for now the off-peak Leeds-Huddersfield service is just three trains per hour. Makes our line look good! TransPennine Route Upgade work affects our line of course. Swings and roundabouts. Brighouse is disrupted, but does see calls by diverted TPE services that avoid Huddersfield.

What’s in it for us?

WYCA agrees rail strategy

In line with our Electric Railway Charter!

It is good to record that West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) is sticking to its guns on electrification. The Metro rail strategy was formally agreed at WYCA’s full meeting in March, and includes as top-ranked (Tier 1) schemes:

  • The Calder Valley line extending the government’s Leeds-Bradford proposal to Calderdale, Preston and Manchester. The routes through Elland and Brighouse linking with Huddersfield routes are also included. York-Blackpool, Leeds-Manchester (and maybe on to Chester) could be electric all the way, as could trains via Brighouse. The Calder Valley network is noted as one of the busiest routes in the region. Full electrification would release a lot of diesel vehicles, and maximise the benefits of the Leeds-Bradford scheme – make sense of it in fact. We say track upgrades could be carried out along with – or preferably before – electrification.
  • The Harrogate line, already linked with electrified Airedale and Wharfedale routes, enabling large numbers of diesel trains to be removed. Electrification through to York would also link up with the electrified East Coast Main Line.
  • The Dearne Valley line linking Wakefield Westgate with soon to be electrified Sheffield-London, enabling service improvements on potentially fastest Leeds-Sheffield route.

Tier 2 includes the lines through Castleford and Wakefield to Knottingley (onwards to Goole), and Sheffield via Barnsley – where Northern currently routes its twice hourly fast (or fastish) trains from Leeds to Sheffield. Tier 3 would fill in gaps such as the Penistone line and Ravensthorpe-Wakefield.

The assumption is that the TransPennine Route Upgrade will electrify from Stalybridge through Huddersfield and Leeds to Church Fenton1, effectively completing wiring from Manchester Airport and Liverpool to York. Also assumed is that already announced schemes not only for Leeds-Bradford (the New Pudsey route) but also for Leeds-Hull will be there. Leeds-Hull is a government Network North proposal, as is Leeds-Sheffield (which latter we assume means the Dearne Valley route).

Rolling programme. But one project for our line!

The document gives equal ranking to Harrogate, Calder Valley and Dearne Valley routes. But Harrogate is always mentioned first, maybe just because it is less complex. Some of us would like to see our line at the top, as it was in Northern Sparks, the task force report that will celebrate its tenth anniversary next year. Then again, the Harrogate line is much simpler; could it even start before the Huddersfield main line is finished? Either way, the plan for full electrification is in line with our Electric Railway Charter, launched six years ago in Halifax (Electric Railway Charter). The Charter website lists several other reports that advocate, in one form or another, rolling electrification. The Calder Valley is always there.

It is vitally important the Calder Valley is seen as one project with Leeds-Bradford. Almost all trains from Leeds to Bradford Interchange continue to Calderdale and beyond. It would seem ludicrous to have to change traction from electric to batteries (or hydrogen) at Bradford. Bi-mode, even tri-mode trains might seem sexy to some engineers, but with two or more traction systems on board there is a lot of extra mass, more things to go wrong, less reliability and lower energy efficiency than pure electric. The Calder Valley also carries heavy freight trains for which the only sensible decarbonisation plan is full electrification. The strategy says batteries or hydrogen could be valuable as interim solutions on some lines including use of hybrid trains. But “the limited range and performance of such trains is likely to suit only low density, low traffic, low speed and shorter distance passenger routes,” says the strategy. As electric car drivers know, batteries are heavy2. And hydrogen, though the lightest gas, takes up a large volume.

Service frequencies need improving

Our line – including the route from Brighouse to Leeds via Batley – is shown by one of the maps in the strategy as having nine stations where service frequency needs improving. HADRAG agrees. We shall keep on pressing for all trains passing through Sowerby Bridge stop there (at present just 2/hr compared with Hebden Bridge’s 4/hr). Halifax and Bradford Interchange (currently 5/hr) are both shown as needing improvement. Walsden’s present 1 train/hr is marked “not acceptable”.

Brighouse’s twice hourly pattern is also shown needing an upgrade. We have pointed out that the nominal 2 trains/hr at Brighouse is effectively only a single train on each of the two routes E-W (Wigan-Leeds) and N-S (Bradford-Hud). Two an hour – at least! – is needed on all arms. And we say they should connect, to give reliable upper Calderdale-

Huddersfield connectivity (if not through trains). Brighouse-Leeds is proposed to be semi-fast, just one or two stops. We say target journey time should be 20 minutes. Elland-Leeds would be about 23 minutes. At half-hourly that would be a very attractive service.

There is little if any more on suggested new routes including the “Crigglestone curve” one linking the Calder Valley line south of Dewsbury with Barnsley and Sheffield. We think a Bradford-Halifax-Sheffield service could offer some attractive journey times, our headline being Brighouse-Sheffield in 55 minutes, maybe less. Spen Valley reopening through Cleckheaton could be a later phase, cutting off the corner to give a direct inter-city link.

Bradford-Huddersfield is described as part of strategic evidence for CV line enhancements. “Network North” (last autumn’s government statement) is invoked here with its suggested (optimistic?) 12 minute journey time, non-stop, presumably via a new route. But this would not improve the service for Halifax, and not, we guess, for Brighouse either. Clearly any Network North new line is some years away. We need our lines improving now.

A further complication is service disruption for the TransPennine Route upgrade.

Network North proposed a 30 minute timing Bradford-Manchester. And yes, it does seem optimistic. Business case must be dubious if it’s a new line for only 2 trains an hour. Better surely to upgrade the Calder Valley line and aim initially for a half-hourly fast service. This might take as little as 42 minutes Bradford-Manchester and would also serve Halifax and Rochdale. Complementary services in between would serve intermediate stations. Track -and capacity – interventions are pencilled by the WYCA strategy over the Sowerby Bridge to Rochdale section.

This could mean passing loops, for example between Mytholmroyd and Hebden Bridge or further up the route. Longer trains are suggested through Halifax and Brighouse.

Tunnel to high speed?

Away from the WYCA spotlight, Colin Elliff, experienced railway civil engineer, has suggested a new route across the Pennines involving a 15 kilometre tunnel from Halifax to Littleborough. A 30 minute journey time is proposed from Bradford to Manchester.

Elliff’s proposal is part of a portfolio of schemes that also go under the banner “Network North Ltd”, not to be confused with the government’s more recent adoption of a similar brand! It scores higher for us than Transport for the North’s publicly unspecified high speed plans, because it actually serves the big towns on our line. Could it be a later phase? It is certainly a generation way. We need to develop the lines we already have – now!

Back in the WYCA strategy, talk continues of a new Bradford station. This could be outside the present city centre – maybe 10 minutes’ walk. It would be a through station eliminating the age-old need for trains to reverse in Interchange. This would ease “pathing” of trains in and out of the station and increase capacity.

Could other, more convenient, sites be possible?

We must add that Bradford’s vision is for the city centre to expand and include the new station site.

An alternative cross-city route stretches the definition of feasibility: the new(ish) Broadway shopping centre blocks the way. Bradford to Leeds via Shipley is 13 miles, compared with 10 miles via New Pudsey. And junction conflicts at both Interchange and Shipley would constrain timetabling. Colin Elliff’s diagram suggests Bradford-Leeds via Shipley would take 15 minutes, compared with 12 minutes currently predicted via New Pudsey (we assume both of these are non-stop). It all adds up. With the new station, Halifax-Leeds could come down to 25 minutes or less. – JSW

Late night minor triumph. But we say no to Cinderella syndrome!

Hadrag first raised the issue of a late-evening 2-hour gap in services back from Manchester at Mytholmroyd and Sowerby Bridge back in 2018. (Is that right? We can’t believe it.) Thankfully this has at last been at least partially dealt with. We would also have liked to see stops by Blackpool trains -not only late night but all day. Improvements will appear in the summer (May) timetable. But we are someway off getting the increased service at Sowerby Bg called for in the WYCA rail strategy. Meanwhile we still moan (forgive us!) about lack of services from Bradford and Calderdale to the far side of Manchester, though we are thankful for the Chester trains. It’s not just the we want trains to the airport; we want services to give our line access to work, education, leisure attractions and connections south via Piccadilly and Oxford Rd stations. At a recent TravelWatch NW conference in Stockport we heard the December 2026 timetable change would could be strategic. But Calder Valley to Manchester Airport was one option under consideration for… well, around the end of the decade. Remember the first trains round Manchester’s Ordsall Chord in December 2017 were actually Calder Valley ones, supposedly a prelude to airport trains. That was reversed in May 2018, just before the famous timetable omnishambles. We shall continue to argue for an alternative routeing Bradford, Halifax to Manchester Piccadilly via Huddersfield, which would also link stations from Stalybridge with our nack of the woods, but suspect TransPennine upgrade works will be a ready made obstacle to that. Whatever rail businesses’ and government excuses we refuse to keep quiet as our line continues to be a northern Cinderalla.

26 Years Late and Counting: When Will Elland Station Open?

There is a growing sense of frustration about Elland station. For estimated opening date latest we can find in print is “late 2026” – 2½ years away. Do we feel that is realistic? As we write, the nearly finished new station at White Rose, by the well-known Leeds shopping centre, is at present on-hold because of cost increases. It is clear that White Rose will be finished, but not (as we write this) quite clear when.

Which does increase the worry about Elland.

On the Calderdale Next Chapter website West Yorkshire Combined Authority is quoted as saying (Jan’2024):

“We remain committed to the Elland Railway Station project and work is progressing on the ground to deliver these improvements. As we confirmed last November, the completion date for this scheme has been pushed back until late 2026 because of a variety of factors, including design changes and supply chain challenges. This project will improve accessibility and make it easier for people to travel around the region by boosting connectivity across Calderdale and beyond.” (Elland Rail Station and access package I Calderdale Next Chapter, to whom thanks also due for illustrations.)

We suspect there may also be issues to do with land ownership. Will compulsory purchase orders be needed?

We can understand why, when Brighouse station opened almost a quarter of a century ago, Elland was put on hold – and not just because something in Leeds was felt to be more important. Elland station is complex. On an embankment with steps, lifts and ramps all needed (see picture) – veritably a wonder of the world. (Alternative sites at Greetland or Exley Lane would not have done.) The scheme is not just the station but includes an access package with new canal and river bridges to link up the local area. It sounds like it will be worth waiting for. But even those of us who have kept faith with this are getting frustrated. This station should have opened in 2000. It is running 26 years late. And counting.

WYCA Rail Strategy

As mentioned inside, West Yorkshire Combined Authority continues to give electrification high priority – including our line. HADRAG also welcomes an aspiration to increase the direct service Brighouse to Leeds to twice hourly. WYCA’s rail strategy is about developing and improving services on existing routes. Improvements we might reasonably hope to see as early priorities! The question of course is where the finance is going to come from. But these kinds of aspirations should be deliverable in a relatively short time and at reasonable cost – unlike either new high speed lines or mass transit. We also welcome suggested enhancements to increase route capacity, for example in upper Calderdale.

Supporting ideas to transform services in the Five Towns around Pontefract we look for a similar approach in our area – not least development of Brighouse (and Elland!) line services. Wakefield and on to York, and Sheffield via a reopened curve at Crigglestone would be destinations to transform connectivity from Bradford and Calderdale. Not everybody wants to go to Leeds!

The Sheffield proposal is listed among other longer term more tentative proposals, including a more direct Sheffield route via the Spen Valley (not Calderdale!). Others such include commuter services from the Worth Valley heritage line; Otley; and the direct line from Penistone to Sheffield
in South Yorkshire, potentially restoring direct Huddersfield- Sheffield trains.