We keep saying all present trains that pass through Sowerby Bridge should stop there. That would double the service frequency giving three each hour (Mon-Sat) to Manchester and one Blackpool-York.
The station serves at least two council wards. If the Blackpool trains stopped, that would save people from having to drive up the valley.
In the future we’d like to see extra trains Bradford-Manchester calling at just Halifax and Rochdale. That we could be some years away. Carry on campaigning!
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 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:
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.
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!
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!
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
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.
Mytholmroyd (in picture) and Sowerby Bridge should be getting all York-Blackpool trains stopping when the May 2018 timetable plan is implemented (which may not be May 2018!). Worryingly, however, both stations were threatened in the draft timetable with losing Sunday services to/from Manchester as well as late night trains back in the week—unintended consequences of the service specification in the franchise agreement. We are more hopeful Sowerby Bridge will see improvement by December 2019 when the “Northern Connect” regional express brand is launched. Sowerby Bridge is to be an NC-designated station, and we are told all NC trains should stop there even though this would go beyond the franchise specification. We’ve asked Northern to clarify their intentions and we’ll let you know!
Northern Connect stations will also get “full staffing”, which is starting to sound something like a proper booking office. Mytholmroyd and Brighouse are meant to get for partial staffing, the meaning of which will doubtless become clear. When its big new car park is complete Northern may discover that Mytholmroyd needs more trains! Brighouse certainly deserves better.
Campaigners in HADRAG, the Halifax & District Rail Action Group, are calling for Elland to be next new railway station in West Yorkshire following opening of Low Moor earlier this month. We want the Northern train operator (Arriva Rail North) and Network Rail (who oversee tracks and timetables) to declare their commitment to Elland station and ensure provision is made for trains to stop in new timetables planned for the next 2-3 years. Meanwhile we continue to argue for a better deal for Calder Valley stations currently missed out by “semi-fast” or “express” services. We say Brighouse and Sowerby Bridge deserve something more like the service level and quality enjoyed by Hebden Bridge and Todmorden. More below:
Low Moor station is on the Calder Valley Line between Halifax and Bradford. HADRAG joined with other groups including the Bradford rail users (BRUG), and the Friends of Low Moor Station (FOLMS) in celebrating the first trains at Low Moor station on the first Sunday in April (02/04/17). Low Moor is served by hourly trains on the Leeds-Bradford-Halifax-Brighouse-Huddersfield route. It also has intercity services to London operated by the Grand Central open access operator. With the other groups, HADRAG wants to see a better service at the new station and we hope a Manchester service can be arranged to stop every hour by the end of 2019.
December 2019 is the second of two big timetable change dates when services are expected to be transformed under the Northern trains franchise under Arriva. By then Bradford-Manchester should have 3 trains/hour (compared with 2/hour at present) and we say that should be an opportunity to boost the service at intermediate stations, not just provide an extra fast train that misses out a lot of stops.
If increasing usage is the measure (Office of Road and Rail station usage statistics, 2016), Brighouse and Sowerby Bridge should be the Calder Valley Line’s top two stations. (See also our newsletter piece: Two Cinderella stations again top table!)
Usage of Sowerby Bridge station has risen steadily and now stands at 392,000 passengers/year, an increase of 132% on ten years ago. Although passenger numbers are historically higher at Hebden and Tod, their ten-year percentage increase is somewhat less than Sowerby Bridge’s. Sowerby Bridge station serves not just the town itself but also the Ryburn valley and the eastern side of Luddendenfoot. This represents a catchment area of more than 20,000 population, and probably more than that of Hebden Bridge and Todmorden combined. Yet the basic half-hourly service at Sowerby Bridge is only about half the frequency enjoyed by the upper valley stations. HADRAG continues to argue that all of the York-Blackpool semi-fast trains should call at Sowerby Bridge (at present just a few do at peak hours). We also say that when an extra service every hour is introduced between Bradford and Manchester at the end of 2019, that train should also serve Sowerby Bridge.
Brighouse line – and Elland! Brighouse has an even better case for more trains, but apart from some increase to peak hour and Sunday services to be introduced by May 2018, little extra seems to be promised for Brighouse under the Northern franchise. This is in stark contrast to Halifax, Hebden Bridge and Todmorden on the Bradford-Manchester route which will benefit from “Northern Connect” branded regional express services by 2019. Like Sowerby Bridge, Brighouse serves a population covering at least two local council wards – 20,000 plus. The ORR’s figures show a ten-year increase of 476% at Brighouse station which now sees footfall of over 400,000 entries and exits annually. No better than Sowerby Bridge, Brighouse’s best local service frequency is hourly on each of two routes (Leeds-Brighouse-Todmorden-Manchester and Leeds-Bradford-Brighouse-Huddersfield). The Sunday service is at present 2-hourly (on the Bradford route only); the commitment is to increase this to hourly. HADRAG has been pressing for a speed-up of the Leeds-Brighouse-Manchester trains which we say should also run on Sundays. We hope that changes to stopping patterns may see these trains running semi-fast west of Todmorden in the next year or so. A few peak-hour trains on the Brighouse-Manchester route are planned to run non-stop Rochdale-Manchester from December 2017. We do not yet know whether this will become the pattern for all of these trains. Beyond 2019 and Northern’s initial franchise commitments we hope that the Brighouse-Leeds service will also be improved with fast or semi-fast operation. Non-stop running time Brighouse-Leeds is about 17 minutes but the current stopping service takes double this time. This is very much an area where we expect the train operator to deliver beyond its basic franchise commitment.
Which brings us to Elland, one of the top three sites in the West and North Yorkshire new stations study (now getting on for three years ago). The October 2014 Atkins report forecast demand at Elland as 240,000 annually. In the latest feasibility studies, consultants report a strong business case and confirm the buildability of an impressive-looking new station on the strategic site next to the A629 and Lowfields. HADRAG believes this could work well as a park and ride serving the whole “Greater Elland” settlement – again, a population of 20,000 plus. We understand the money for building Elland station (price-tag maybe £14 million) could come from West Yorkshire Plus Transport Fund, though there may be further hoops to jump before that can happen.
And the train timetable must be designed to allow trains to stop at Elland. So HADRAG calls on the Northern train operator (Arriva Rail North) and on Network Rail to declare their commitment now to operating Elland station with a good train service. Every local train that stops at Brighouse must also stop at Elland! There looks to be slack in the current timetable to allow that to happen but obviously with major timetable recasts in May 2018 and December 2019 that allowance must also be built in for the future. Faster line speeds on the Bradford-Manchester route and hopefully a semi-fast pattern for the Brighouse-Manchester trains should make this easier. The railway – train operators and infrastructure managers – should commit to this without further delay or equivocation. What’s to stop them? HADRAG is clear that after massively successful Apperley Bridge and Kirkstall Forge, and now Low Moor:
It’s got to be Elland next!
– JSW
Network Rail say rail passenger numbers have doubled nationally over 20 years and will double again by 2041. But the top stations on our line can better that! Halifax station usage has doubled in just 10 years. Latest batch of station usage estimates from the Office of Rail and Road reinforce previous years’ results. ORR’s estimates are based on ticket sales. Refinements of methodology over the years mean caution is required when identifying trends. But some trends are clearly significant.
We have again done our homework on the ORR spreadsheet and calculated increases in estimated footfall over the last ten years (up to last spring), as well as the latest year-on-year figures. Our Calder Valley Line (CVL) table is ranked by 10-year growth, and once again Brighouse and Sowerby Bridge come out top. Brighouse has had another growth spurt (8.1% over last year), consolidating a spectacular 476% over ten years. Sowerby Bridge may have levelled off slightly this time — sign of demand starting to be suppressed by service limitations? — but 132% over ten years is still double the national average. These are of course our “Cinderella” stations; they serve medium-size towns comparable with Todmorden and Hebden Bridge but have significantly fewer trains. As we keep telling people, better services at Brighouse and Sowerby are surely overdue.
10-year growth exceeds the national average at all Calder Valley stations within West Yorkshire except Walsden and Mytholmroyd, the latter a significant village halt where untapped potential may emerge when the new car park opens. Overall, CVL stations are a little behind national growth figures, more significantly so on the latest year-on-year results. Again, is this the limitations of provided service suppressing demand?
Walsden is interesting with a sudden apparent spurt against declining trend. Look also at New Pudsey where morning peak trains regularly leave passengers behind. And Bramley, third from the top, last station before Leeds (but compare with Moston at the other end of the line). Any theories?
| CVL station usage statistics: entries and exits (extracted from Office of Road and Rail station usage estimates, December 2016 – growth calculations added for HADRAG by JSW) |
Year on year growth | Growth over 10 years | ||||||
| 2005-06 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 13/14-14/15 | 14/15-15/16 | 05/06-15/16 | Mean/y | |
| Brighouse | 72,229 | 371,666 | 384,922 | 416,094 | 3.6% | 8.1% | 476.1% | 19.1% |
| Sowerby Bridge | 168,942 | 351,652 | 383,844 | 391,766 | 9.2% | 2.1% | 131.9% | 8.8% |
| Bramley | 154,249 | 317,132 | 305,580 | 315,342 | -3.6% | 3.2% | 104.4% | 7.4% |
| Halifax | 978,225 | 1,912,798 | 1,935,764 | 1,982,148 | 1.2% | 2.4% | 102.6% | 7.3% |
| Hebden Bridge | 385,768 | 739,112 | 764,354 | 756,508 | 3.4% | -1.0% | 96.1% | 7.0% |
| Todmorden | 311,986 | 548,152 | 563,920 | 585,310 | 2.9% | 3.8% | 87.6% | 6.5% |
| New Pudsey | 475,591 | 763,666 | 844,046 | 891,062 | 10.5% | 5.6% | 87.4% | 6.5% |
| Rochdale | 641,487 | 1,059,282 | 1,098,630 | 1,134,418 | 3.7% | 3.3% | 76.8% | 5.9% |
| Littleborough | 223,821 | 368,598 | 380,786 | 391,896 | 3.3% | 2.9% | 75.1% | 5.8% |
| Castleton | 85,695 | 143,506 | 148,596 | 148,262 | 3.5% | -0.2% | 73.0% | 5.6% |
| Mills Hill | 183,853 | 302,726 | 313,536 | 310,032 | 3.6% | -1.1% | 68.6% | 5.4% |
| Mytholmroyd | 107,107 | 156,704 | 171,704 | 164,742 | 9.6% | -4.1% | 53.8% | 4.4% |
| Smithy Bridge | 98,319 | 146,980 | 144,206 | 149,152 | -1.9% | 3.4% | 51.7% | 4.3% |
| Moston | 52,205 | 125,902 | 82,486 | 71,732 | -34.5% | -13.0% | 37.4% | 3.2% |
| Bradford Interchange | 2,482,799 | 2,990,294 | 2,922,956 | 2,993,340 | -2.3% | 2.4% | 20.6% | 1.9% |
| Walsden | 132,703 | 94,332 | 93,942 | 102,324 | -0.4% | 8.9% | -22.9% | -2.6% |
| CVL totals | 6,554,978 | 10,392,502 | 10,539,272 | 10,804,128 | 1.4% | 2.5% | 64.8% | 5.1% |
| National | 1,601,494,732 | 2,665,123,512 | 2,785,070,620 | 2,938,358,550 | 4.5% | 5.5% | 83.5% | 6.3% |
The unloved”Pacer”at Brighouse will be gone by 2019. What will replace it? Great news that under the new Arriva franchise most Calderdale stations will see brand new trains on “Northern Connect”services to York, Blackpool, Liverpool, Chester and Manchester Airport. But it looks like Northern Connect will bypass Brighouse. On the plus side,
Leeds-Brighouse-Manchester stopping trains are expected to be extended to Southport and should get millennium-vintage “Turbostar”trains in 2-3 years time. The promise is that everything not new will be refurbished to top modern quality with free wi-fi, and improved access and toilets. Expect 30 year-old”Sprinters”looking like new-it’s not impossible!
HADRAG, the group that fought to get brighouse station reopened 16 years ago has released a report advocating a better deal. Capacity around Huddersfield and Mirfield prevents new operator Arriva from increasing services along the Brighouse line. But HADRAG says the Manchester trains should be speeded up as”semi-fasts”exploiting Turbostar performance. Longer term we want track authority Network Rail to build in extra capacity as it electrifies the Huddersfield line so that more trains can run through Brighouse to Huddersfield, Mirfield and beyond. HADRAG has always said a fast Brighouse-Mirfield-Leeds train could cut journey time from 35 to 20 minutes. And the Brighouse Line timetable must be designed to include stops at planned Elland station.
Sowerby Bridge also has a good case for more trains. HADRAG argues all York-Blackpool”Northern Connects” should stop there, plus the extra Manchester-Bradford trains due to start in 2019. We believe our ideas are sensible and achievable. And we believe Arriva, Rail North and the other “powers that be”are listening to us.
Many of the trains that do not stop at Sowerby Bridge have the same timing Hebden Bridge to Halifax as ones that do stop. The non-stoppers often have a couple of minutes “performance allowance” in the schedule. In theory most if not all could all stop, but don’t because of “performance risk”. This service has to hit time slots over complex junctions at Preston, Leeds and York, so the train operator wants some slack in the timings to meet punctuality targets. We understand that. But in our report we also say the new timetable to be introduced at the end of 2017 could and should be designed so that all the Blackpool-York expresses do serve Sowerby Bridge. This has been half-promised in the past and it’s time to deliver. We also think a few more of these trains could serve Mytholmroyd.
By 2019 there will be an extra train every hour on weekdays between Bradford and Manchester—through to the Airport. We say this should also serve Sowerby Bridge.
These reasonable, achievable proposals would double daytime service frequency at Sowerby Bridge during the week, responding to clear latent demand. ORR figures show passengers at Sowerby Bridge increased by 115% between 2006/7 and 2014/15, beating all other Calder Valley Line stations apart from Brighouse.
Halifax and District Rail Action Group 