Trans-Pennine Express Train Changes for Slaithwaite & Marsden
Slaithwaite and Marsden will see significant improvements to peak train services in the December 2019 timetable.
When the new franchise was up for renewal Slaithwaite and Marsden Action on Rail Transport (SMART) had frequent meetings with Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) as well as the prospective franchisees.
Whilst we had concerns about the proposed service pattern from May 2018, we did not anticipate quite how bad things would become. Little did we or anyone else expect chaos on the scale that occurred following the May 2018 timetable change or the deterioration in the train service at Slaithwaite & Marsden.
Over the seven months of the May 2018 timetable Slaithwaite had the unenviable distinction of being by far the worst station in the entire country for delays and cancellations.
‘We were going backwards not forwards’ said Councillor Rob Walker, Chair of SMART. ‘In May 2018 we lost the half hourly peak service to and from Manchester Victoria which we had enjoyed since 1990 and the easy cross-platform connection at Stalybridge to the alternative Manchester destination. The only gains were the much improved TPE rolling stock and through trains to Leeds, though these were largely negated by the high level of cancellations.’
Since then SMART along with our colleagues from Mossley & Greenfield have met with TfGM, WYCA, Transport for the North (TfN), TransPennine-Express and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, and took our concerns direct to the then Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling.
TPE and TfN have listened to our concerns, and understood why things needed to change, and the result is a new timetable from December 2019 which will deliver:-
- An equal interval half-hourly peak service to Manchester Piccadilly and the reinstatement of the half-hourly peak stopping service to Huddersfield, restoring the frequency which existed for 30 years until the May 2018 timetable change.
- an hourly peak service direct to and from Leeds.
- The end of the failed experiment of the skip-stopping service, so there will again be direct trains between Greenfield, Mossley, Marsden and Slaithwaite.
- A later last train from Manchester at 23:35 and from Leeds at 23:05, seven days a week.
- Earlier first Sunday morning trains.
SMART will continue to campaign for a half-hourly service throughout the day, improved connectivity to Victoria and Salford, more capacity on the trains and full disabled access at Marsden and Slaithwaite.
We are grateful for the support of our local MPs, Jonathan Reynolds, Debbie Abrahams and Thelma Walker, and also the newspapers and other media outlets, in particular Tom Richmond at the Yorkshire Post.