“If you build it, they will come”.
The quote from actor Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams is one that is readily used by rail passengers’ champion Peter Marshall.
The Honley man has proof that where rail services have been improved, passenger numbers have increased.
And he believe the 5½m passengers currently using Huddersfield railway station would be boosted still further if the busy transPennine line was electrified.
Mr Marshall, chairman of the Huddersfield Penistone Sheffield Rail Users Association, was as disappointed as anyone when Transport Minister Patrick McLoughlin shelved immediate plans for electrification on the line.
But as a realist, he admits that there are many issues to overcome before the full benefits of the project could be seen.
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Mr Marshall said: “It is key to the economic success of the region but at the same time, there are a lot of issues to be resolved.
“Everyone has known for months there were problems with the scheme and I fear Network Rail has been asked to do too much too soon.
“The finances may be there but there are many engineering issues to be sorted.
“We would want to see a half-hourly fast service linking Manchester, Huddersfield and Leeds but also five or six service each hour stopping at all the stations on the line. To do that, we need to have four tracks in place wherever possible to allow the fast trains to pass the stopping trains.
“It has been trailed on the Liverpool to Manchester Airport service which was electrified six months ago and has proved very successful.
“We have been let down and rhetoric becomes just rhetoric. Network Rail cannot meet the expectations. they are being asked to do more than that which they are capable.
“Electrification would require new carriages, which in turn would attract more passengers wanting to travel in comfort. Wherever rail services have been improved, passenger numbers have gone up. To quote the old adage: ‘ if you build it, they will come’.”
