AN EXTRA 700 seats will be made available to commuters using West Yorkshire's busy rail network, it has been revealed - and it will ease congestion at Huddersfield.
Six extra trains will soon be travelling in and out of Leeds station in a £20 million partnership between transport firm Metro, Northern Rail and regional development agency Yorkshire Forward.
From Monday, peak-time services from York and Harrogate via Horsforth and from Halifax and Bradford on the Caldervale line will be boosted.
Extra carriages will also be added to trains from Huddersfield, Knottingley, Selby and Sheffield.
Metro chairman Clr Stanley King said: "Metro remains committed to putting the passenger first, and by pooling our resources with Yorkshire Forward we have enabled Northern to provide services more suited to the needs of commuters, while still providing extra seats on busy routes during the rest of the day."
Tom Riordan, chief executive of Yorkshire Forward said: "We are confident that the additional seats will encourage more people to make public transport their first choice when travelling to work."
Northern Rail managing director Heidi Mottram said: "We are delighted that the partnership with Metro and Yorkshire Forward has enabled us to provide more capacity for our passengers.
"We hope that this partnership will be the first of many that help us to address the growing demand for local train travel."
North Yorkshire County Council is currently funding work to extend platforms at stations in its area to accommodate the new, longer trains.
