Last post

Posted on December 4, 2009 by admin

Earlier in the day, Friday, December 4th, we recorded with joy that Northern rail had manged to get their station announcement system working again after an interval of at least 3 months.

However by the evening the information system had ceased to operate again.

But we live in hope that this essential service to passengers will be restored.

Meanwhile, SMART awaits a reply from Heidi Mottram the managing director of  Norther Rail to explain why we cannot have the benefit of announcements. As we wrote on November 18, it will be some months, if ever before she gets around to replying based on previous experience.

Posted in Northern Rail | Tagged | Leave a comment

New Rural bus service to Hospital (388)

Posted on November 18, 2009 by admin

AMMENDED INFORMATION Without a great deal of publicity, Stotts travel are now running a NEW service – 388 – between Meltham and Huddersfield Royal Infirmary, via Helme, Blackmoorfoot, Linthwaite and Milnsbridge. – It is hourly, leaving Meltham Morrisons on the half hour until 2.30pm whereupon it switches to 4pm and 5pm which is the last bus to HRI.  Buses back from HRI  start at 10am and are on the hour until and including 2pm, from then on 4.30pm and 5.30pm (last one, and only to Milnsbridge.) It is important that these services are used, as a number of rural services in the Colne and Holme valleys have been withdrawn or radically altered in the last year or so.

Posted in services | Leave a comment

Get a lift at Huddersfield

Posted on November 15, 2009 by admin

Tomorrow, November 18th, should see work commence on the new lifts at Huddersfield Railway Station. Not only are lifts being installed and a new access from Platform 1 to Platforms 4-8, but the entrance hall is to be extended and a new booking hall created.

Details of the planned improvements can be found on the Kirklees planning website

This link should work and if you look for the Floorplan 3 towards the bottom of the list of plans this will show you in some detail the extent of the planned improvements .

According to the notice put out by Transpennine, the work should be completed by July 2010.

Now watch this space

Posted in Huddersfield Railway Station | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Christmas Travel in West Yorkshire

Posted on November 12, 2009 by admin

SMART, like other user groups received the following e-mail from David Stopher at metro this afternoon, November 12 2009

Hi All

Here are the detailed train service arrangements for the West Yorkshire area over the Christmas and New Year holiday period 2009/10 which you may find useful. I hope I’ve picked it all up right!

Northern local services will operate normally, apart from early closedowns on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve when trains will operate until approximately 2000 and will then start to run down. Few late evening trains after 2200 will run. First TransPennine Express will operate similarly with some evening trains terminating short of advertised destination. No rail services will operate on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. On New Year’s Day there will be some early morning Northern cancellations before 0700 after which the normal weekday service will operate.

Full details of Northern and First TransPennine Express alterations throughout the period are included including cancelled and amended trains, last and first trains operated on each route. Details of other long distance operators’ altered trains are not included. Please refer to each operator’s web site for full timetables for each day. The new East Coast operator will be operating special timetables throughout the holiday period with reduced frequencies on some days.  NXEC will be handing over operation to DfT Directly Operated Railways from midnight tonight. First TransPennine Express, CrossCountry and East Midlands Trains’ services will be subject to alteration throughout the period. For the first time First TransPennine Express will not be operating late evening and overnight trains on New Year’s Eve/ New Year’s Day.

There will be some engineering works affecting local train services over the weekend of 2/3 January 2010 with widespread disruption on the Caldervale Line between Leeds and Bradford Interchange and on the Hallam and Penistone Lines.

A new rail timetable will be introduced on Sunday 13 December 2009. Timetables for each route are now available on the Metro web at http://www.wymetro.com/TrainTravel/traintimetables/ The Network book will follow shortly. Hard copies will be available by the end of November.

David Stopher

Rail Services Leader  Metro (West Yorkshire PTE)

Posted in Christmas Travel | Tagged | Leave a comment