HADRAG – Halifax and District Rail Action Group

Autumn-Winter 2025-6 Update: Hadrag’s been busy

Hadrag’s been busy since our 40th anniversary meeting in Brighouse (June). We’ve called for an action plan on Halifax station, not an indefinite wait for revival of a shelved “gateway” scheme. We want all present trains to call at Sowerby Bridge.

And we’ve reiterated ambitions for Bradford-Calderdale-Sheffield trains: Brighouse to Sheffield little more than 50 minutes – capacity permitting! Projects that will deliver in our lifetimes must be prioritised over very long-term plans for new lines. Could recent trains Halifax-Leeds via Brighouse be another easy model to take forward? Read on for more on all that.

Latest station footfall statistics are just out – more analysis to follow in Spring issue. Among Calderdale’s top 5 stations, Halifax comes top with 1,803,014 passenger comings and goings in year ending March 2025, just a little below pre-pandemic best. Sowerby Bg, Hebden Bg and Todmorden now exceed pre-pandemic performance with Brighouse just a little behind.

If you want to do your own analysis see link to table-1415-time-series-of-passenger-entries-and-exits-and-interchanges-by-station.ods in the ORR statistics.

We just wish Northern could get our trains running on time. York-Blackpool, marred by lateness, cancellations and lack of carriages should be a premier service. It’s not all Northern’s fault: delays get knocked on from other train operators and Network Rail – including climate events. The Hadrag Survey recorded some of the best performance 30 years ago. Train running and overcrowding now feel as bad as ever. Again more in next issue – meanwhile, read on and join us!

“Halifax- Station and Horton Street, from Beacon Hill (2577872319)” by Tim Green from Bradford is licensed under CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/?ref=openverse.

HADRAG Annual General Meeting: Saturday 28 June 2025

HADRAG Annual General Meeting

Saturday 28 June 2025

Conference Suite (far end of Community Hall) at

St John the Divine, St John Street, Rastrick HD6 1HN (5 min walk from Brighouse station).

Doors open 09.30, light refreshments; start around 09.50 (not before); finish before 12.30.

Agenda

Welcome, apols. (any other urgent business to add)
Chair’s report/opening remarks
Minutes of 2023 AGM; matters arising
Matters arising if any
Financial report – to agree accounts
Membership and any other reports
Election of officers etc 2024-5: Chair, vice ch, sec, treasurer, plus committee. And auditor.
Guest speaker (at around 11.00)
David Hoggarth, Strategic Rail Director, Transport for the North
Way forward for HADRAG (+ AOUB notified at start)

Easy to find! Head south from Brighouse town centre past Sainsburys. At train station (by lights) turn right and go south-west along Gooder Lane. St Johns is on right, so turn into St John Street and head past the community room to conference suite at far end. Buses X63 etc pass rail station and the 563 comes hourly from Halifax via Copley, West Vale, Elland and Rastrick. 548/9 and 571 serve Brighouse bus stn. Short walk from rail station and we expect train service to be normal. Car parking at back of hall/church.

Tale of three stations (going on four) and wider view along line

Hadrag may have Halifax in its name, but we have a wider view along the Calder Valley line. Last year our AGM was in Sowerby Bridge. This year we are very close to our silver anniversary station – 25 years since Brighouse opened. Hadrag was founded in 1985 – but one or two of us had already started campaigning not just for station reopening but for a better service all round. So too had other local and regional groups. This writer had a letter in Modern Railways magazine (1983 we think) calling for Brighouse reopening. The line had closed to regular passenger trains in 1970, but those trains were barely a service, intermittent on Bradford-Huddersfield and Sowerby Bridge to York routes – not serving West Yorkshire’s commercial capital, Leeds. (Even if the political capital Wakefield was served.)

So the service that started on Sunday 28 May 2000 service was a great boost: weekdays hourly Huddersfield-Bradford-Leeds, with a morning commuter train from Hebden Bridge to Leeds via Dewsbury returning at teatime. Eight years later the Leeds via Dewsbury trains became hourly and extended in the other direction to Rochdale, Manchester and Southport (now just Wigan). That was the moment of growth, beating other CV stations over a 10-year period, percentage-wise.

Grand Central trains to London started in 2010, now times a day with ambitions to increase.

So although Brighouse has (on Mon-Sat) two local trains an hour on weekdays these are spread over two routes so the practical service is only hourly. Compare that with Hebden Bridge or Todmorden. Brighouse has a similar or bigger catchment population, but a much worse service. So Hadrag says:

The direct hourly trains Manchester-Brighouse-Dewsbury-Leeds should run seven days a week…
…and on Mondays-Saturdays these direct Leeds trains should be twice hourly, one of them fast Brighouse-Leeds, target journey time 20 minutes. And we think one of these could come from Preston or Blackpool via Blackburn doubling the popular “Roses Rail Link” that runs Blackpool-York via Halifax and Bradford.
The hourly Halifax-Huddersfield route would also be more attractive if it ran more frequently, an alternative to slow local buses.
An attractive new service could be Bradford to Sheffield via Halifax, Brighouse, Barnsley and Meadowhall. A short “mothballed” curve near Horbury-Crigglestone would need to reopen. Brighouse-Sheffield could be about 55 minutes, Elland-Sheffield just short of an hour – very attractive indeed.

We realise of course that much of the above is unlikely to be achieved until the TransPennine Route Upgrade is complete, at least the Huddersfield-Dewsbury-Leeds bit. But we also know increased frequency Brighouse-Dewsbury-Leeds is a West Yorkshire Combined Authority desire, and Bradford-Sheffield via Brighouse gets a mention as a possible aspiration.

Onward up the line

The “main” Calder Valley line runs west from Brighouse. The “Hebble incline” goes up to Halifax at Greetland Junction. Going straight on at Greetland, next stop is Sowerby Bridge. We have for years called for more trains to serve what used to be a key junction station. We knew that West Yorkshire Combined Authority supported the idea of more trains calling and that has been reaffirmed in a recent letter from WYCA rail officer Mick Sasse, representing the views of Mayor Tracy Brabin and transport committee chair Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe. We have had a similar response from David Hoggarth strategic rail director at Transport for the North.

Hadrag argues on the basis of population that all trains that stop at Hebden Bridge should also serve Sowerby Bridge. Sowerby Bridge serves a community as big as Hebden and Todmorden combined, two council wards plus. Think about the Ryburn valley and the south western quarter of Halifax that feeds Sowerby Bridge’s catchment. Yet the impression you might get turning up at the station is that most trains rush through without stopping, which is true for up to half of them. One train an hour to Halifax and Bradford, two an hour to Leeds and Manchester. Through the week, only a few evening-peak York-Blackpool trains stop, though all of them call on Sundays.

So Hadrag’s first priority is to get all of the York-Blackpools calling, all week. The “Roses Rail Link” had started in 1984¹ – eventually to become hourly semi-fast York-Blackpool. These trains already serve places like Church Fenton, Garforth, and – on the Fylde – Kirkham & Wesham. So we argue Sowerby Bridge should be included.

We met Northern trains officials. We recognise their reluctance to introduce extra stops given pressure to improve timekeeping and reliability on this longish route. But we understand timetable revisions, even recasts, are coming up in the next year or so. So, we say, could this not be an opportunity? We have after had short intervals in the past when the “Roses” trains have served not only Sowerby Bridge but Mytholmroyd as well. As they still do on Sundays.

We also say the semi-fast Leeds-Halifax-Manchesters should serve Sowerby Bridge, to give the same service frequency as Hebden and Tod. TfN and WYCA would not be drawn on which should come first. We think it’s obvious!

¹ So things were starting to happen even before Hadrag invented itself in 1985!

Halifax, nervous of lift…

We need a better service, more southwards and westwards, not to mention the link promised in 2018 to get people across Manchester (and not just for the airport). If we can’t have services once promised round the new Ordsall curve which has one train an hour at best, how about a service via Brighouse and Huddersfield? And more, faster services through upper Calderdale might be a more cost-effective option than a new fantasy line from Bradford to Huddersfield. At our AGM last year civil engineer Colin Elliff advocated a fast route Bradford-Manchester via a tunnel between Halifax and Rochdale, with both towns served. You never know.

Halifax station is a serious concern. Hadrag secretary Peter Stocks and I looked round and are finishing a report. Hadrag’s committee worries about safety aspects from traffic on the approach bridge, to congestion at the platform edge. Could not trains be directed to stop – and passengers advised to wait – at the more spacious south end of the platform – also more under cover? Platform 2 curves the wrong way (can’t be helped!) and is crowded. But drivers can see the signal at the north end from a fair distance round the curve so we reckon trains could stop further back.

Information screens invisible from much of the useful waiting area need to be replicated where they can be seen.

The lift is vital for passengers who are unable to walk, and highly desirable for those supervising families, with heavy luggage, or with ageing or arthritic joints. We have seen it out of service too many times recently. What are people who need it supposed to do? Even the able-bodied feel nervous.

Finally there is the age-old issue of toilets. Well, toilet (singular), as there is only one, and it is not great. Halifax station annually sees getting on for 2 million passengers. It serves the unique, iconic, magnificent Grade I listed Piece Hall. All those passengers deserve better. Northern, we shall be in touch!

… and Elland, coming soon

How much longer do we have to wait? With a TV reporter we met residents who’d moved to Elland back in the 1990s thinking there would be a station in 2000. Elland had passenger numbers predicted as good as Brighouse, maybe better. It was shelved then because of costs and competing projects – look at the latest designs in the present £25M scheme. So now we are what? 26, 27 years late? It will happen.

We shall keep up the campaign for all stations in Calderdale connecting with all points of the compass.

Header Image: Ben Brooksbank, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

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