Most Huddersfield rail users quizzed by the Examiner want to see the speedy electrification of the entire trans-Pennine line.
Many agreed there was a “desperate” need for the Government to think again on the plans for the electrification of the route from Manchester to York, after it was put on hold 11 days ago.
The national £38bn five year plan to overhaul’s the country’s railways, which had been due to be completed on the route by 2018, would have led to faster services using newer rolling stock and would have been able to be used by local stopping services. Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin blamed the shelving of the project on disarray within Network Rail.
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Passengers in Huddersfield explained why they wanted the electrification to go ahead.
Rita Hutchinson, 76 and from Penistone, said: “It should be electrified.
“I want faster trains– and the state of the current trains is not good.
“On top of this, electrification could boost the regional economy.
“It’s the 21st century but in Huddersfield we have been left in the 20th– we’ve just been forgotten about.”
Tom Banks, 41, of Holmfirth, said: “I think it’s just another broken promise by the Government.
“The electrification needs putting back on the agenda so that it doesn’t stop the development of the north.”
Sheila Hallas, 67, from Holmfirth, added: “We are just the poor relations of the south.
“Electrification is desperately needed– every time I go to Leeds there are no seats and for the trains to be quicker would be perfect because everyone is in more of a rush these days.
“I’m sure in the long run if they don’t resume the electrification process it will damage local economies.”
And Linda Jenking, 54, from Mirfield, said: “I get the train from Mirfield to Leeds and it’s horrendous-it’s slow and unreliable.
“My family has moved up from Plymouth and the same electrification process has been delayed there too, it’s shocking.”
Phil Graham, 25, from Morley, agreed electrification was needed to help local services: “TransPennine are fine but local are poor from Morley and Mirfield into Leeds
“I don’t know any service that has such a poor local rail service.”
But Adrian Ryder, 20, a Huddersfield University student, did not see the need for the electrification.
He said: “It doesn’t really bother me I think the trains are quite fast as they are.”
Peter Marshall, who chairs a local rail users group, has welcomed the campaign.
But he concedes Network Rail need to have four tracks in place wherever possible to allow the fast trains to pass the stopping trains.
He wants to see five or six express trains from Leeds to Manchester via Huddersfield and a half hourly stopping service.
