A decision to withdraw nine TransPennine Express trains from Yorkshire so they can be used in the South, has been blasted.

The trains, currently used across Yorkshire and the North East, will be sent south to boost rolling stock numbers in Oxfordshire.

The services pass through Huddersfield several times a day.

The move has been slammed by West Yorkshire transport authority, Metro.

Chairman James Lewis said passengers in the county were likely to suffer less frequent and more overcrowded services as a result.

TransPennine Express itself criticised the transfer, which takes place in April, explaining that the decision had been made by a rolling stock leasing company.

Clr Lewis said: “I’m disappointed that rail passengers in the north of England may have to suffer overcrowding and fewer services as a result of a short-term, commercial decision.

“It flies in the face of the evidence of an ever-growing market for train travel in the north, including between the cities served by TransPennine Express.

“This is why the authorities in the north, through the Rail North partnership with the Department for Transport, want to take responsibility for our local rail network – we should be able to ensure that trains weren’t taken away when rail franchises come up for renewal, but kept where they are needed most.

“I’m also disappointed that the local authorities haven’t been consulted at any stage in this decision despite the commitment shown by the Department for Transport to the City Deal and rail devolution, and I am seeking an urgent meeting with ministers to see what we can do to increase the number of trains, not reduce them.”

Newsome councillor as well as regular user and critic of the Penistone Line, Andrew Cooper, said Yorkshire was getting the ‘raw end of the deal’.

Clr Cooper, who refers to the service as ‘Low Speed One’, a parody of the High Speed Two (HS2) project, said: “You just keep wondering what it is that makes our area get the raw end of the deal and the South get priority.

“It’s up to these companies to explain to us why we are losing out.”

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