“Huddersfield Railway Station to be shut for 30 days as part of ‘blockade’ for £1.5 Billion Rail Electrification Scheme”

Posted on October 18, 2021 by admin

[From Huddersfield Hub, 15 October 2021. Incidentally, we’d like to put in a plug for the Huddersfield Hub, which is a newish news website for Huddersfield. They aim to cover local news, business, sport, what’s on, community and charity events across the Huddersfield area.]

Huddersfield Railway Station will be closed for a month – twice – when modernisation work gets underway as part of the £1.5 billion rail electrification scheme.

As the date of a public inquiry is revealed, the scale of disruption facing Huddersfield has started to emerge.

The Department for Transport has announced that the public inquiry will be held at the John Smith’s Stadium from November 2.

And documents published ahead of the inquiry have given some insight into how much disruption will be caused.

The scheme will see electrification of the line between Huddersfield and Westtown just outside Dewsbury with the number of tracks doubled from two to four along most of the route.

Eight bridges will be rebuilt including a narrow bridge over the railway in Colne Bridge Road near to Bradley traffic lights. When work goes ahead the road could be closed for up to two years.

The scheme will also mean an internal modernisation of the historic grade I-listed Huddersfield Railway Station.

Deighton and Mirfield stations will also see significant upgrades and there will be a brand new station at Ravensthorpe.

Documents submitted to the inquiry have revealed that the scheme is due to start in January 2023 and be completed in June 2026.

It also reveals that Huddersfield Railway Station will have two “blockades” – extended periods of closure – in Easter 2024 and Easter 2025.

During the first blockade the station will be closed for 30 days and trains will be replaced by buses.

John William Street and Fitzwilliam Street will be closed for work on the railway bridge. During the blockade work will take place 24/7. There was no detail about the length of the second blockade.

Kirklees Council lodged a formal objection to the scheme by Network Rail, forcing the public inquiry.

Despite the objection, the council is not opposed to the investment and, conversely, is very much in favour of the scheme going ahead.

The council made the objection because it had a number of concerns about the sheer level of disruption – not just to the railway but the roads as well.

Though council officers had been talking to Network Rail since 2017, councillors felt they had been kept in the dark over many of the details.

When Kirklees Council agreed its objection at a meeting in July, Clr Will Simpson, Cabinet member for Greener Kirklees and Culture, said:

“This is not a small matter and we don’t object like this for the fun of it.

“A scheme like this will inevitably have a big impact but we have not had proper information or adequate assurances on behalf of our residents.

“I don’t think any of us oppose this investment, we welcome it and we need it. But this is going to cause significant disruption.”

Clr Peter McBride, Cabinet member for Regeneration, said the Department for Transport had behaved “appallingly” and residents had to be protected as much as possible from the disruption.

The inquiry will be chaired by inspector Paul Singleton as Network Rail seeks wide-ranging powers under the scheme.

These include compulsory purchase of land, the permanent stopping up of footpaths and the closure of Huddersfield Broad Canal and the Calder & Hebble Navigation.

The Canal & River Trust and HD1 Developments Ltd, owner of the grade II-listed brick-built warehouse behind Huddersfield station, have also submitted formal objections.

Huddersfield Railway Station to be shut for 30 days as part of ‘blockade’ for £1.5 billion rail electrification scheme – Huddersfield Hub

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Timetable Changes – 31 July to 15 August

Posted on July 30, 2021 by admin

Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) Works

Manchester Victoria to Stalybridge – Saturday 31 July to Sunday 15 August

From Saturday 31 July until Sunday 15 August 2021, the railway line will be closed between Manchester Victoria and Rochdale/Stalybridge, so that Network Rail can deliver key rail infrastructure improvements as part of Transpennine Route Upgrade.

The work between Manchester Victoria and Miles Platting Junction will see Network Rail work around the clock to upgrade track and reconstruct railway bridges, helping deliver a better and more reliable railway. The closure means that no trains can run between Manchester Victoria and Stalybridge, with TransPennine Express services diverted to run into Manchester Piccadilly.

For the most up to date information, please check your journey before you travel and to view more details at about the Transpennine Route Upgrade, please visit: networkrail.co.uk/TRU

Manchester Piccadilly – Huddersfield (Local Services)

This service will not run. Calls at Mossley, Greenfield, Marsden and Slaithwaite will be picked up by other TPE services. Towards Manchester, these will be picked up by the Hull – Manchester Piccadilly service. Towards Huddersfield, these will be picked up by the Manchester Piccadilly – Redcar Central/Darlington service. Some of the timings will be different from normal.

https://www.tpexpress.co.uk/travel-updates/transpennine-route-upgrade

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Disabled Access at Marsden station

Posted on June 21, 2021 by admin

There have been campaigns going back at least 30 years for provision of disabled access at Marsden station. Others will be better qualified than us to comment on earlier campaigning, so we will restrict ourselves to commenting on 2011 onwards.

It’s worth pointing out that the standards that have to be met have increased over the years. If you are familiar with Brighouse station, the arrangement of ramps giving access to the Halifax-bound platform would probably not conform to the standard required today.

Provision of step-free access at stations is not cheap. Whatever you think it might reasonably cost, it will be a lot more than that. It’s not the time and place to go into the range of reasons why construction projects on the railway are so expensive. That’s just how it is.

There are basically two ways of funding provision of disabled access at stations. Either they can be funded through the Department for Transport’s Access For All programme, or done as part of a route modernisation.

Access For All

Access For All is a bidding process. Local authorities submit bids. We are not sure whether train operating companies can also submit bids. The Department for Transport makes the decisions. Stations with higher passenger numbers will score more highly in the bidding process, which will tend to give a South-Eastern bias. Likewise the easier, and therefore cheaper, locations to fix will score more highly.

Access For All is split into bidding rounds, with some rounds being for large scale projects (e.g. provision of step-free access) and some for “Mid-Tier” funding which is for small scale improvements such as tactile strips and handrails.

Even the handful of projects under Access For All each year take a long time to be implemented. Compared to the scale of the challenge to make all stations accessible, Access For All is just tinkering at the edges.

The Transpennine Route Upgrade

The other funding method is to include station accessibility within major projects, and it just so happens that we have one of those taking place around here. Or rather we thought we did. Electrification of the main North Transpennine route between Manchester, Leeds and York was announced in the 2011 Autumn Statement. It wasn’t called the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) at the time, but that is what it has since been named.

There was no ambiguity in the announcement. The route would be electrified in full. In the context of disabled access, bridges at Marsden, Greenfield and elsewhere would need to be raised or replaced and that would involve disabled access being provided at those stations.

We have not had sight of plans for how this would be done at Marsden, but we were given to understand that such plans had been prepared. Our understanding was that it involved creating a new station access from the old goods yard, with accessibility issues being resolved from that end of the station rather than from the road bridge.

This was all looking promising. The route would be electrified by 2016, with all stations along the route being made fully accessible. Unfortunately what was promised in 2011 didn’t happen.

Although the engineering solutions are different for each station, the funding and decision-making process is the same for Mossley, Greenfield and Marsden (and also for Slaithwaite, which is fully accessible only for passengers who are being dropped off and collected by car). So decisions made about station accessibility apply to all four stations.

At some point the Department for Transport informed the local transport authorities along the route (Transport for Greater Manchester – TfGM – and West Yorkshire Combined Authority – WYCA) that as the stations along the route would be made fully accessible as part of TRU, they would not be eligible for Access For All bids. This is referenced in TfGM committee minutes.

Years passed. Access For All bidding rounds came and went. The Transpennine Route Upgrade which had been announced in 2011 and re-announced several times since turned out not to have been approved, let alone funded.

Partial Electrification

Discussions must have taken place behind closed doors, and some of these led to the idea that only certain parts of the route would be electrified, with the trains being bi-modes operating partly on diesel power. Chris Grayling was particularly associated with this enthusiasm for bi-modes.

The idea of partial electrification, and in particular leaving the Stalybridge to Huddersfield section unelectrified, is and always was daft. Electric trains are lighter and more fuel efficient, and better at climbing hills than diesels. So it never made any sense to leave the hilly part of the route unwired, nor to plan for heavier trains carting diesel fuel back and forth across the Pennines.

These discussions must have been taking place prior to December 2018 when we met with Chris Grayling, and we asked him the direct question of whether TRU would deliver full disabled access at Mossley, Greenfield, Marsden and Slaithwaite stations. He said he did not know the answer but would find out. We never got an answer.

Nevertheless, because this daft idea was being taken seriously by Chris Grayling and the Department for Transport, the local transport authorities were told in August 2019 that they could now apply for Access For All funding for Mossley, Greenfield, Marsden and Slaithwaite stations because TRU would not deliver station accessibility at those stations. No electrification =  bridges not being raised = no works to provide station accessibility.

At short notice, WYCA were allowed to make a bid for station accessibility at Marsden. The round of Access For All funding at that time was for “mid-tier” funding, which as we have observed is meant for small scale improvements. At very short notice, WYCA submitted a bid with support from Kirklees Council. It was unsuccessful, possibly because mid-tier funding was never appropriate for the scale of the works required at Marsden.

2018 Timetable Changes

At the same time as investment decisions were being made (or rather avoided) behind closed doors, there was the long running saga of the timetable changes. One of the impacts of the timetable changes which were implemented in May 2018 was that westbound trains at Marsden called at the non-accessible platform 2 rather than the accessible platform 3. It saves 1½ minutes by not going into the platform 3 loop, which is critical in making the timetable work operationally on such a heavily used route.

Whilst the height of platform 2 was eventually raised, this merely mitigated a problem which should never have been created in the first place. It did not improve station accessibility.

It has been argued that 50% disabled access at places like Mossley, Greenfield (currently) and Marsden (until May 2018), where disabled accessibility is available in one direction only, is no better than 0% access. Nevertheless, SMART is firmly of the opinion that any  change in disabled access from 50% should be to increase it to 100%.

We believe that the situation at Marsden, with 50% disabled access having been reduced to 0%, is unique across the entire network. It is legal because it is as a result of a timetable change. Had it been done as a result of an infrastructure change it would have been unlawful.

Support for Station Accessibility to be provided as part of TRU

A wide range of people and organisations are supportive of all stations along the route (and specifically including Mossley, Greenfield, Marsden and Slaithwaite) being made fully accessible as part of TRU.

That list includes Kirklees Council, Oldham Council, Transport for Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Transpennine Express, Northern Railways, councillors and MPs representing Mossley, Saddleworth and the Colne Valley, Transport for the North, senior councillors on West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham. At least some of that might be as a result of speaking with people like us. It’s noticeable how, in discussions about TRU, our elected representatives often bring up the subject of station accessibility unprompted.

None of them, unfortunately, have a role in making, funding and implementing the decisions that need to be made.

That leaves Network Rail and the Department for Transport. Certainly there are people within Network Rail who are supportive, but we do not know whether it is the collective view within Network Rail that station accessibility should be a core element of TRU rather than an optional extra.

Whatever thinking there is within the Department for Transport remains a closely-guarded secret.

In July 2019 Grant Shapps was appointed as Secretary of State for Transport. He is certainly more energetic about investing in the North than his predecessor, and has been saying all the right things. Nine years after TRU was first announced, and three years after it was supposed to be completed, there has been funding approval for parts of TRU (although what the funding approval covers is still very vague). We were encouraged that his department is now looking at a much more ambitious scheme than the scaled back Grayling version. It was also encouraging that the minister responsible, Andrew Stephenson, was prepared to meet us at Marsden station to see for himself why disabled access is necessary and how it could be achieved.

As at today’s date (21st June 2021) the government is supposed to be publishing its much-delayed Integrated Rail Plan “soon”. This should indicate (amongst other things) whether TRU is to be implemented in full, including station accessibility.

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“Fears of ‘hammer blow’ to Northern Powerhouse Rail and Bradford city centre stop as government considers scaling back plans”

Posted on June 21, 2021 by admin

[from the Yorkshire Post, 21st June 2021]

Fears are growing that Boris Johnson’s government may water down one of his flagship ‘levelling up’ commitments by scaling back plans for a high speed rail link between Leeds and Manchester.

The Prime Minister has been warned that failing to fully deliver the Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) high speed scheme would be a “hammer blow” for the region in its efforts to recover from the pandemic.

The Yorkshire Post has seen government documents which suggest that rather than building a new high speed rail line between Leeds and Manchester, the project could now follow the route of the existing Trans-Pennine line through Huddersfield and Dewsbury.

The Treasury is this week set to consider plans to massively increase the budget for the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) in a move that would cut journey times and improve reliability.

But northern leaders fear that by developing NPR alongside TRU it could mean the high speed rail route would not include a station in Bradford city centre, something considered vital for the city’s economic fortunes.

Under previous Transport Secretary Chris Grayling, the TRU scheme was valued at £2.9bn but the documents say the total cost is now between £9bn and £11.5bn.

The plans would see journeys from Manchester to Leeds fall from 49 minutes to 40 minutes and Manchester to York from 74 to 62 minutes. And the number of trains between Leeds and Manchester would increase from six per hour to eight.

Officials say the investment would cut the number of minutes lost to delays in half and create 15 new opportunities for freight per day.

This proposal would include full electrification all the way from Manchester to Colton Junction, south of York, something which the document says would contribute “strongly to ‘net zero’ carbon reduction obligations”.

Among the key elements of investment in the next two years are what are described as “development of capacity improvements for NPR between Ravensthorpe and Dewsbury”.

This includes four tracks on the line between Cross Gates and Garforth east of Leeds and three tracks between Marsden and Huddersfield, on the existing route of the Transpennine Route.

But the move has prompted fears at Transport for the North, the body which represents northern leaders, that the Government will ignore their pleas for an entirely new line between Leeds and Manchester serving Bradford city centre.

Last year TfN said its preferred route for NPR was a Bradford ‘gateway’ option which would cut the time to travel between Leeds and Manchester to 26 minutes and 30 seconds and provide a huge boost to the economy of a city which has long been let down by its poor transport links.

But Department for Transport officials have also discussed a £4bn cheaper ‘Diggle’ option which largely follows the existing Transpennine route through Huddersfield and does not serve Bradford at all.

In a speech in 2019, Boris Johnson said he wanted “to be the Prime Minister who does with Northern Powerhouse Rail what we did for Crossrail in London”. He said:

“And today I am going to deliver on my commitment to that vision with a pledge to fund the Leeds to Manchester route.”

Bradford council leader Susan Hinchcliffe said:

“As the youngest city in the UK, Bradford is at the heart of the future workforce of the North. Young people have been hugely impacted by the economic restrictions of the pandemic.

“Government should not take a decision now therefore which will doubly disadvantage these young people for the rest of their lives.

“Transpennine upgrade needs to happen but it should be in addition to, not instead of having Bradford city central as a stop on the mainline NPR.”

West Yorkshire mayor Tracy Brabin said:

“I have contacted the Transport Secretary to seek urgent clarity around this matter.

“Bradford is a city with great potential and opportunity, but if we are to see this fantastic place grow and prosper then it needs the NPR new line going through it with a new major station for Bradford. How can it be right that the 6th biggest city in the UK does not have an adequate rail service?

“We have been consistently clear that we need a transport system that works for people who live here, and this means having a NPR stop in Bradford.

“We welcome the Transpennine Route Upgrade programme, but we’ve been clear that this should be as well as Northern Powerhouse Rail, not instead of it. By having the right transport infrastructure, I believe that there are no limits to what the city of Bradford could achieve.”

Henri Murison, director of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said:

“In the Prime Minister’s first major policy speech in Manchester, he committed to building Northern Powerhouse Rail across the Pennines.

“Rumours that this commitment will be broken are deeply concerning for Northern leaders who are working towards rebalancing the economy.

“The North was promised HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail in full – to be abandoned now, just as we begin a recovery from the pandemic, would be a hammer blow.

“We need reassurance and certainty that there is no substance to these rumours – which means an Integrated Rail Plan published before the summer recess.

“We need a new high-speed rail station built in Bradford city centre and we need to start construction on the Eastern Leg from Leeds in order to unlock connectivity benefits early. That includes getting more frequent and reliable services from the North East to Sheffield.”

But government sources insist no decision has yet been taken and that they will all be subject to the Integrated Rail Plan, which will set out how NPR, HS2 and TRU will fit together and is due to be published later this year. The Yorkshire Post understands options which could serve both Bradford and Huddersfield have been looked at.

A Government spokeswoman said:

“The Integrated Rail Plan will soon outline exactly how major rail projects, including HS2 phase 2b, the Transpennine Route Upgrade and other transformational projects such as Northern Powerhouse Rail, will work together to deliver the reliable train services that passengers across the North and Midlands need and deserve.”

The leaked report seen by The Yorkshire Post says:

“A long-term vision for the region has been developed by Northern Powerhouse Rail which comprises a blend of enhancements to existing routes and brand-new rail lines, notably a high speed line linking Manchester and Leeds.

“This would form a transformational new investment for the 2030s and beyond, building on HS2. The TRU programme is driven by the need to address the more immediate constraints to achieving the strategic objectives on the existing railway (solving today’s problems).”

Tim Wood, Interim Chief Executive at Transport for the North, said:

“Transport for the North welcomes any further potential investment by Government into the Transpennine Route Upgrade programme after its latest injection just a few weeks ago of £317m, the proposals provide a step change in capacity and resilience for both passengers and freight and moves us away from an ageing Victorian railway between Manchester and Leeds.

“Transport for the North and its Members have long been calling for full electrification of the route and major infrastructure upgrades which will drive our economy, jobs and place making.

“We now await the publication of the Integrated Rail Plan by Government due soon to transform connectivity across the North including great cities like Bradford which has been held back for far too long.”

Asked last week whether the Government was now more interested in smaller-scale transport infrastructure projects than big-ticket items like NPR, Chancellor Rishi Sunak told The Yorkshire Post:

“I think we’re doing both.

“The Prime Minister’s said we are going to deliver an infrastructure revolution and that’s what we’re delivering. So it does mean big projects like HS2, but it also means those small scale infrastructure projects that are going to make a difference whether it’s upgrading a station like Darlington, whether it’s improving connectivity across the Pennines, whether it’s the intra-city transport around cities like Leeds.

“In different cities, it will mean different things. It could be buses, it could be cycleways, it could be trams, but it’s about connecting the cities within themselves. So I think we can, can do both and we are doing both, both are important for our future prosperity.”

He added:

“And with regard to the rest of the [Northern Powerhouse Rail] route, I’m a big believer in transport connectivity across the North as being something that’s really important for us to deliver.

“We said later this year we’ll publish something called the Integrated rail plan which will bring together all the various proposals for transport investment across the North and the Midlands and figure out what’s the best package of all of those to do over what timeframe.”

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/politics/fears-of-hammer-blow-to-northern-powerhouse-rail-and-bradford-city-centre-stop-as-government-considers-scaling-back-plans-3279867

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