A DIRECT rail link to London could be coming to Mirfield within 12 months.
Train operator Grand Central have submitted a bid to the Office of the Rail Regulator (ORR) for permission to run services direct to the capital.
The company hopes to run six trains per day to and from London King’s Cross.
Each journey will take just under three hours.
If approved the service will be Kirklees’ first direct link to the capital.
Services from Brighouse to King’s Cross were launched for the first time in 41 years in May.
Huddersfield has been promised two direct links to London by 2014.
The news of the Mirfield connection was welcomed by Dewsbury MP Simon Reevell.
Mr Reevell said: “This is fantastic news. I pay tribute to people like Clr Martyn Bolt and David Pinder who have worked so hard to convince Grand Central that running a direct service between Mirfield and London would be worthwhile.
“This will help people in my constituency who travel to the capital regularly for business and pleasure and I look forward to making the case to the ORR that this should get the go-ahead.”
It comes after the rail company was given a boost in its first customer service report since starting the Brighouse to London link.
Grand Central scored 95% for customer satisfaction in rail watchdog Passenger Focus’s autumn survey.
Grand Central Managing Director, Tom Clift, welcomed the results, saying: “These figures are a tribute to our On Train staff who are fantastic.
“We are keen to grow the number of routes and communities we serve to provide more potential passengers with the Grand Central experience.
“We are eager to engage with other Industry and Government bodies so that we can give rail users more choice and more journey opportunities at a time when Government is concerned about the costs of running the franchised railway.”
And in the survey, one of Grand Central’s lowest rating was for frequency of services, with customers telling the company that they wanted more trains between the town and London.
