New train franchises come into operation in the North of England today.
And rail bosses pledging a £1.2bn investment programme across the region and greater local control say passengers will benefit.
Representatives from Rail North and the two train operating companies, Arriva Rail North Ltd and First Group, were joined by Andrew Jones MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport, at Manchester’s Piccadilly Station this morning to welcome a new era for rail passengers across the North.
The two new franchises will be co-managed by the Department for Transport and Rail North Ltd, which brings together representatives from 29 local transport authorities from across the region through the Rail North Partnership.
New Northern operator Arriva Rail North Ltd and First TransPennine Express Ltd owner First Group will provide new, state-of-the-art trains - which will cost more than £800m - with the addition of more than 500 new carriages.
In doing so, Northern will remove the out-dated and unpopular Pacer trains by 2019 and by the same year, the entire TransPennine fleet will be brought up to Intercity standards. Many of the new trains will run in and out of Huddersfield and each will provide an extra 161 seats.
Over the next four years, the franchises will bring more than 140 new trains onto the network, providing space for 40,000 extra passengers at the busiest times of the day as well as adding a much needed increase in service frequency at off-peak times. Facilities at over 400 stations across the North will also be improved.
West Yorkshire transport chief Clr Keith Wakefield said:“Good transport underpins the area’s ambitions of business and economic growth and job creation, as well as helping to overcome social isolation. I am pleased to see that both franchisees are committed to introducing new, faster trains, reducing overcrowding at peak times and serving more places more often in the evenings and on Sundays.
“Passengers will also benefit from staff at more stations, free Wi-Fi on trains, and better customer information on-board and at stations.”
Stephen Waring, who chairs the Halifax and District Rail Action Group, welcomed the benefits of the new services, but he insisted more could be done for Calderdale. He said the number of passengers at Brighouse had gone up by more than 300%.
“We say these benefits are unevenly spread, and we make feasible suggestions for service improvements at Sowerby Bridge and Brighouse.
“These are two stations that the rail regulators statistics show had the best growth of all Calder Valley Line stations yet they appear to have a relatively poor deal from the new train operating franchise.”
