INVESTMENT of £32bn in the HS2 high-speed rail link to the north has been welcomed, but that needs to kick-start an improvement in local services, say local rail enthusiasts.

They say improvements are needed in local infrastructure to make the most of the HS2.

Hopes remain that Golcar and Milnsbridge could one day have a railway station again.

And an extra track at the Standedge Tunnel and Dewsbury is still on the agenda.

First TransPennine this week announced £60m in 40 new carriages to increase passenger capacity by 30% and luggage space by 25% on the route which links Huddersfield with centres including Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Hull and Newcastle.

Plus there’s £10m from Network Rail for improvements for Huddersfield.

Colne Valley Conservative MP Jason McCartney said: “HS2 is not an ‘either or’ for this or local services.

“We can still get investment in local services to link in with HS2.”

Asked if an extra track through the Standedge Tunnel had been put on the back burner, Jason McCartney, vice chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Rail in the North, replied: “It’s still something that’s in the mix.

“Once the electrified line is up and running we’ll need extra tracks or stopping spaces for overtaking. When we have the faster services something will be needed.

“It’s still a potential possibility, we’re looking at what is realistic.”

The Department for Transport’s £20m new stations fund opened for bids this week.

Clr Paul Salveson, Labour’s Golcar ward member and a member of the Golcar, Longwood and Milnsbridge (GLAM) Transport group, said: “We are still being told that putting a stop in at Golcar and Milnsbridge is difficult.

“They say because there’s a curve and a gradient it makes it difficult, but there are solutions.

“The investment that’s going into the Manchester-Leeds line will only provide enough capacity for the planned increase by September 2018.

“It doesn’t take future expansion into account. I think it’s wrong not to build in provision for future expansion.

“Slaithwaite and Marsden stations are busy – they take a quarter of a millions passengers already with inadequate services.

“This announcement doesn’t change anything but we are working positively with Metro to build a case.”

MP Jason McCartney, who is working with the Golcar campaign group, say’s he’s also seeking improvements on the Penistone line, which will link up with HS2 at the proposed Meadowhall station.

Kirklees Conservative leader Clr Robert Light said: “There is already a commitment to electrify the Transpennine route through Huddersfield to Leeds and Manchester and the possibility of re-opening disused tunnels under the Pennines has also been suggested to increase freight capacity.

“It is essential that these proposals come to fruition.

“The Leeds-Manchester rail link is crucial for our economic future.

“The Leeds to Leeds/Bradford Airport link is another scheme that has to be developed if our region is to become more competitive.

“But we need to be developing bigger ideas than that – for instance we should also be looking to upgrade the existing railway network from Bradford, through Huddersfield and Halifax to the new Meadowhall HS2 station in Sheffield.

“We also need to ensure that there is quality car parking at the new HS2 stations in Leeds and Sheffield, and improved car parking at the server stations, as well as improved access and traffic flow from our motorways to the HS2 stations”.