Huddersfield station is set to close for 30 days between Saturday 30 August and Sunday 28 September to allow for the Transpennine Route Upgrade engineers to continue to transform the station. Other work will also be taking place on the route between Huddersfield and Stalybridge and at Deighton station.
During this time, there will be no trains at Marsden or Slaithwaite, in fact no trains anywhere between Stalybridge and Mirfield.
[artist: Harry Wingfield, 1965]
Bus replacement will take place, with extended journey times.
A half-hourly all stops rail replacement bus will be running in both directions. On Sundays only, one bus an hour will extend through to Guide Bridge. Estimated journey time: 64 minutes
Marsden – Slaithwaite – Brighouse (peak time only)
Monday – Friday: In morning peaks, additional services will run from Marsden 0625, 0725 & 0825 and Slaithwaite (10′ later) to Brighouse avoiding Huddersfield to enable connections towards Leeds. In evening peaks, services will run from Brighouse avoiding Huddersfield to Slaithwaite and Marsden at 1600, 1700 & 1800. Estimated journey time: 40 minutes Marsden – Brighouse.
Huddersfield – Brighouse
A service will operate directly between Huddersfield and Brighouse up to every 15 minutes. Estimated journey time: 15 minutes.
[Also:
Manchester Airport – Stockport – Huddersfield – Brighouse Monday – Saturday: Hourly rail replacement bus, estimated journey time 98 minutes Sunday: An hourly rail replacement bus between Huddersfield and Manchester Airport via Stockport, estimated journey time 98 minutes Stalybridge – Huddersfield Half-hourly direct (non-stop) rail replacement bus , estimated journey time 50 minutes. Huddersfield – Deighton – Mirfield – Dewsbury – Wakefield Kirkgate Hourly all stops rail replacement bus, estimated journey time 60 minutes
Huddersfield – Penistone (all stops) Hourly all stops rail replacement bus from Saturday 30 August until Sunday 7 September and Saturday 27 to Sunday 28 September, estimated journey time 88 minutes Huddersfield – Barnsley (direct) Hourly direct rail replacement bus from Saturday 30 August until Sunday 7 September and Saturday 27 to Sunday 28 September, estimated journey time 60 minutes Huddersfield – Berry Brow (all stops) Hourly all stops rail replacement bus from Monday 8 September until Friday 26 September calling at Lockwood, estimated journey time 17 minutes.]
Timings of replacement buses, and trains they connect with, are now in online journey planners.
Typically journey times from Marsden/Slaithwaite to Leeds will be between 1h09’ & 1h31’ (from Slaithwaite, add 10’ if travelling from Marsden) and between 1h24’ & 1h37’ (+10’ to Marsden) on the return journey.
Looking at what is in journey planners, what is currently a journey time of between 33′ & 36′ will for that month be between 59′ & 1h31′. Similarly the return journey of 32′ increases to between 1h00′ & 1h37′.
There will be no fare reductions. If that increase in journey time happened today because of unplanned disruption, a passenger would be entitled to 50% delay repay. Of course we have pointed out the unfairness of this and requested a fare reduction for the duration of the closures, but we are under no illusions that this will not be considered because it would set a (good) precedent.
In the opposite direction journey times to Manchester (from Slaithwaite) will increase during the period of bus replacement to between 1h09′ & 1h14′ (from 35′ to 37′).
Brighouse car parking options
Driving to Brighouse, parking the car there and catching the train is not likely to be a good option. From Thursday 28 August to Monday 29 September, Brighouse station car park will be unavailable as it will be turned into a temporary bus interchange.
Alternative parking is available on-street in the local area (limited – a lot of the surrounding streets have residents’ only restrictions) or within Daisy Street pay and display car park operated by Calderdale Council, which is about 400 metres’ walk from the station.
Pick-up and drop-off provision is available on Railway Street. Pedestrian access from Birds Royd Lane and Blue Badge parking (for badge holders only) will be maintained throughout.
This week’s timetable changes. Manchester Piccadilly – Huddersfield – Wakefield Kirkgate – York.
This service will be running on an amended timetable and will call at Normanton every other hour instead of hourly. Peak time additional services will run between Manchester Piccadilly and Huddersfield, but to an amended timetable.
Thanks to everyone who spoke to us at the Slaithwaite Community Event on Saturday. Here are the latest updates from SMART.
Transpennine Route Consultation and SMART Open Meeting: we have been informed that the Transpennine Route Upgrade team intend to consult with residents on the changes to Slaithwaite and Marsden stations (and impending significant closures of the line) in the Autumn of this year. The changes will include, amongst other things, the provision of step-free access to all platforms. Ahead of this, we are organising an open meeting for rail users who use Slaithwaite and Marsden stations to gather views and organise. This will be held on 30th June at 7pm. Please respond to this email if you think you might attend so that we can organise a suitable venue.
Station performance: Slaithwaite and Marsden stations have marginally improved in the leaderboard but continue to have some of the worst rail service based on punctuality and cancellations in the country at 2,506th and 2,391st respectively out of 2,628 stations [Source: www.ontimetrains.co.uk]. This still puts them both in the bottom 10%.
Reminders:
Upcoming closures: Our part of the route will be closed on the weekend of the 5/6th July and the six subsequent weekends. It is also planned that Huddersfield station, plus the route between Stalybridge and Deighton, will be completely closed from 30th August for four weeks. Bus replacement will operate between Stalybridge and Huddersfield, and between Huddersfield and Brighouse. Brighouse will become a main interchange point between replacement buses and trains diverted along the Calder Valley route. Further detail may be found here: https://www.tpexpress.co.uk/travel-updates/planned-engineering-work
Through trains to and from Leeds: When Huddersfield station reopens on 29th September, there will be only two through platforms so through trains from Marsden & Slaithwaite to and from Leeds at peak times will resume (to get the stopping trains out of the way). This will continue until the next month-long closure (which will increase the number of through platforms at Huddersfield to four), currently expected to be in Autumn 2026. At this point, the direct Leeds service from Slaithwaite and Marsden will cease again. In line with the survey feedback, we continue to press for the reinstatement of through trains to and from Leeds on a permanent basis.
As well as letting us know if you plan to attend on the 30th June, also get in touch if you have any questions or want to get involved with supporting the work of SMART.
