The next national rail timetable change date is Sunday 15 December 2024.
The most significant change in December will be TransPennine Express’s year-long temporary reduced timetable coming to an end, meaning the following changes in
service levels on routes serving West Yorkshire:
- There will be four fast trains per hour between Leeds and Manchester Victoria via
Huddersfield (as against two at present), on regular clockface patterns (00, 15, 30
and 45 minutes past each hour from Leeds). - The York – Castleford – Wakefield – Huddersfield – Manchester Piccadilly service,
introduced in December 2023 and currently operating six times per day, but not
evenings or Sundays), will increase to operating every hour all day including
evenings and Sundays. This provides the hourly stopping service between Huddersfield and Manchester calling at Slaithwaite & Marsden. - The additional trains providing a half hourly service at Marsden and Slaithwaite at peak times will run between Huddersfield and Manchester Piccadilly only. These additional trains will also run on Saturdays.
- Leeds – Dewsbury – Huddersfield stopping service. Every other train (i.e. every two hours) will be a TPE train, with the alternate train being Northern.
- Plus point: service restored to half hourly at peak times on Saturdays
- Minus point: No though trains between Marsden/Slaithwaite and Leeds at peak times. Whilst there will be cross-platform or same-platform interchange at Huddersfield, it’s less satisfactory than a through service changing from a train where Marsden/Slaithwaite passengers can get a seat on to another train where they might not get a seat. Likewise there will be no through services from Leeds in the evening peak. Some passengers might regard this as no inconvenience at all or a minor inconvenience. Others might take a less relaxed view of this change. SMART does not feel it is our place to tell passengers affected that it is of no consequence. As far as we can establish, this will be the first time since Slaithwaite station was reopened in 1982 that there will be not a single through train between Marsden/Slaithwaite & Leeds.