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See also: TransPennine Route Upgrade

Huddersfield line
First TransPennine Express Class 185 Desiro at Mossley in 2014
Overview
OwnerNetwork Rail
Locale
Service
Operator(s)
Technical
Line length49 miles (79 km)
Track gaugeStandard gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Route map

(Click to expand)
Legend
Cross Country Route to York /
North TransPennine to Hull
 Leeds West Yorkshire Metro
Hallam Line / Pontefract line
 Leeds Central
Harrogate line to Harrogate /
Airedale line / Wharfedale line
Copley Goods
Calder Valley line
Cross Country Route/
East Coast Main Line
 Farnley and Wortley
Leeds New Line
 Cottingley
White Rose (Proposed opening)
Churwell
Morley
Morley Tunnel
 Batley
Staincliffe &
Batley Carr
 Dewsbury
to Bradford Exchange
 Ravensthorpe
to Wakefield
to Bradford
 Mirfield West Yorkshire Metro
Leeds New Line
Calder Valley line
Bradley
Deighton
Kirkburton branch
Huddersfield Viaduct
 Newtown Goods Yard
Huddersfield West Yorkshire Metro
Penistone Line
Longwood and
Milnsbridge
 Golcar
Slaithwaite
Marsden
Limit of West
Yorkshire Metro area
Standedge Tunnels
Limit of Transport for
Greater Manchester area
 Diggle
Micklehurst Line
 Saddleworth
Delph Donkey
 Moorgate
Greenfield
Delph Donkey to Oldham
 Mossley
Scout Tunnel
Micklehurst Line
 Stalybridge
Glossop line /
Hope Valley line
 Ashton-under-Lyne Manchester Metrolink
Guide Bridge
to Oldham
to Stockport
 Fairfield
Fallowfield Loop line
 Droylsden
Gorton
Clayton Bridge
Hope Valley line
 Park
Ashburys
Calder Valley line
 Miles Platting
Ardwick
West Coast Main Line
/ Styal line
 Manchester Victoria Manchester Metrolink
Manchester Piccadilly Manchester Metrolink
Ordsall Chord
Manchester–Preston line
Liverpool–Manchester lines
 Liverpool Lime Street Merseyrail
Not served by
Huddersfield Line services

The Huddersfield line is the main railway line between the English cities of Leeds and Manchester, via Huddersfield. It is one of the busiest MetroTrain lines. The route travels south-south-west from Leeds through Dewsbury. After a short westward stretch through Mirfield, where it runs on the ex-L&YR section, it continues south-west through Huddersfield, using the Colne Valley to its headwaters. The long Standedge Tunnel, just after Marsden, crosses under the watershed; the majority of the run down to Manchester is in the Tame Valley. From Manchester, some services continue to Manchester Airport and others to Liverpool.

In November 2011, the Government announced that this route would be electrified,[1] to be completed by 2022;[2] however, there have been multiple delays. It is currently subject to the Transpennine Route Upgrade, which is an element of the Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands that was announced in November 2021.[3]

History

Westbound coal train between Ravensthorpe and Mirfield in 1953

At the time of the 1923 Grouping, most of the route followed by the line was over London and North Western Railway (LNWR) metals; the exception was a short stretch around Mirfield, which was the property of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR).[4] The first section of the line, between Huddersfield and Stalybridge, was opened by the Manchester, Stockport and Leeds Railway on 1 August 1849.[5] The line became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway after 1923.[6]

The route was furnished with an additional two tracks in 1894, thus giving four tracks between Stalybridge and Leeds. The loss of traffic through the second half of the 20th century saw these cut back to just two lines and the closure of the Micklehurst (Friezland) loop.[7]

The length of the line between Manchester Victoria and Holbeck Junction at Leeds is 49 miles (79 km),[8] though the Transpennine upgrade work covers the additional section to York which accounts for 76 miles (122 km).[9]

Future

See also: TransPennine Route Upgrade and Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands

From spring 2019, the whole route is being upgraded over the course of three control periods extending beyond 2029.[10] Network Rail state that this will include doubling the track in some places and upgrading stations as well as some of the intended Transpennine north railway upgrade.[11] The electrification was to have been curtailed in parts and, as such, the sections between Stalybridge and Huddersfield, with a further section of 12 miles (19 km) east of Leeds, was not to have been electrified. Emphasis was placed on the bi-modal power of the new trains using the line; this necessitated using diesel engines on the unelectrified sections of track.[12][13]

In August 2019, Network Rail announced a proposal to upgrade the track between Huddersfield and Dewsbury from two tracks to four; at the same time, they also stated their intent to electrify the line between Huddersfield and Leeds. The plans were being put out for public consultation.[14] In July 2020, the then Transport Minister, Grant Shapps, announced a £589 million upgrade to the line, including the reinstatement of an extra two tracks between Huddersfield and Thornhill Junction, to provide four tracks between the two points.[15] These plans were submitted in April 2021 with the expectation of a decision on whether to proceed in 2023.[16]

In March 2022, the first step in the Transpennine Route Upgrade programme was taken. A Transport and Works Act Order to begin works for electrification, track doubling in sections and station upgrades between Dewsbury and Huddersfield was submitted; approval was expected in early 2023.[17] The TRU is an element of the Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands that was announced in November 2021. This proposal includes full electrification of the Huddersfield line and, as well as the track quadrupling between Huddersfield and Westtown (Dewsbury), a grade-separated junction at Thornhill L.N.W. Junction, close to Ravensthorpe.

Route details

Metro (West Yorkshire) pre-paid tickets and concessionary fares are available between Leeds and Marsden. Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) fares are available for the Greenfield-Manchester section.[18] Several of the intermediate stations listed were closed in the 1960s, as a result of the Beeching Axe, including many of those between Huddersfield and Manchester.[19] All stations that are still open are in bold:

Leeds–Huddersfield

Huddersfield–Stalybridge

Stalybridge-Manchester Victoria and Manchester Exchange

Stalybridge-Manchester Piccadilly

Services

TransPennine Express (TPE) operate the majority of the passenger services over the line, as it is the core line linking the North West with Yorkshire and the North East.[23] Since privatisation in the 1990s, local services on the route have been operated by the Northern franchise (Arriva Trains Northern, Northern Rail, Arriva Rail North and, since 2020, Northern Trains). The first incarnation, Arriva Trains Northern, also operated the express services between Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, York, Middlesbrough and Newcastle before the Strategic Rail Authority spun the express train services off into a separate franchise operated by First TransPennine Express and, since 2016, by TransPennine Express.[24]

At the May 2018 timetable change, the Northern services calling at the smaller stations on the section between Greater Manchester and Huddersfield were transferred to TPE; they were combined into an hourly Manchester Piccadilly to Leeds service.[25] This also saw many of the TPE services diverted away from the Guide Bridge to Manchester Piccadilly corridor, so that through trains could use the newly opened Ordsall Chord. However, Northern still operate local services from Huddersfield to Sheffield, Leeds (via Bradford Interchange) and Wakefield.[26] Due to the change of line on the through Manchester services, the Liverpool trains no longer run on the line through Warrington Central, but travel via Newton-le-Willows instead.[27]

Six trains per hour provided by TPE in both directions run on the Huddersfield line between Stalybridge in Greater Manchester and Leeds:[28]

Ale trail

An ale trail has become popular along the route owing to a large number of easily accessed and nationally acclaimed pubs along the route; this includes pubs on the station platforms at Dewsbury, Huddersfield and Stalybridge. The following are of particular interest:

  • West Riding Licensed Refreshment Rooms: located on the platform at Dewsbury station, 2006 runner up CAMRA National Pub of the Year)[30]
  • The Kings Head, formerly known as The Station Tavern, in the east wing of Huddersfield station
  • The Head of Steam: in the west wing of Huddersfield station
  • The Commercial, The Shoulder of Mutton and The Hideaway Crafthouse in Slaithwaite
  • Riverhead, Marsden: with the Riverhead Brewery in the basement, in the town a little down from the station and tunnels[31]
  • Station Buffet at Stalybridge: an original Victorian station buffet with marble counter, on the platform at Stalybridge station)

The trail featured on the BBC's Oz and James Drink to Britain programme and consequently became very popular for drinkers in Manchester and Leeds. This has prompted some concerns over anti-social behaviour in the villages along the trail.[32]

References

  1. ^ "Government's green light for A6 link to Manchester Airport and electrification of train line to Leeds".
  2. ^ "Midland Main Line electrification unpaused – but delayed by years".
  3. ^ Department for Transport (18 November 2021). Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands (PDF). ISBN 978-1-5286-2947-8. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  4. ^ Haigh & Joy 1979, p. 55.
  5. ^ Joy, David (1984). South and West Yorkshire : (the industrial West Riding) (2 ed.). Newton Abbot: David St John Thomas. p. 261. ISBN 0-946537-11-9.
  6. ^ Bairstow 1984, p. 42.
  7. ^ Nixon 1988, p. 71.
  8. ^ Body 1989, p. 111.
  9. ^ "Transpennine route upgrade". networkrail.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  10. ^ "TWAO application" (PDF).
  11. ^ Parsons, Rob (14 December 2018). "£2.9bn trans-Pennine rail project is 'preparing the ground' for further vital improvements, says Network Rail boss". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  12. ^ Pidd, Helen (7 December 2018). "Christopher Grayling may back 'flawed' TransPennine rail upgrade". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  13. ^ "Huddersfield rail electrification to be included in £2.9bn TransPennine upgrade in revealed 'confidential' information". Rail Technology Magazine. 15 January 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  14. ^ "Four TransPennine train stations set for revamp". BBC News. 20 August 2019. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  15. ^ "Trans-pennine[sic] electrification to be "kickstarted" with £589M boost". Today's Railways UK. No. 223. Sheffield: Platform 5. September 2020. p. 11. ISSN 1475-9713.
  16. ^ "Transport and Works Order Act submitted for upgrades on Huddersfield to Dewsbury railway line". RailAdvent. 2 April 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  17. ^ "Transpennine Route Upgrade reaches major regulatory milestone". Global Railway Review. Archived from the original on 2 April 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  18. ^ "House of Commons – Transport – Written Evidence". publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  19. ^ Bairstow 1984, p. 72.
  20. ^ a b c d e f g h Burgess 2014, p. 94.
  21. ^ "White Rose Rail Station". West Yorkshire Combined Authority. 2022. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  22. ^ Farell, Stephen (18 June 2020). "Green light for new Leeds railway station". Insider Media Ltd. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  23. ^ James 2018, p. 34.
  24. ^ Harris, Nigel, ed. (20 August 2003). "First wins TransPennine Express and promises new 100mph trains". Rail Magazine. No. 468. Peterborough: Bauer Media. p. 10. ISSN 0953-4563.
  25. ^ James 2018, pp. 38–39.
  26. ^ Table 34 National Rail timetable, December 2018
  27. ^ "More Liverpool-Manchester fast journeys". BBC News. 9 April 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  28. ^ "Train service changes this weekend – how they could affect you". The Wakefield Express. 18 May 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  29. ^ James 2018, p. 38.
  30. ^ Gildea, Samantha (17 June 2016). "Real Ale Trail: Everything you need to know about the legendary pub crawl". Huddersfield Examiner. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  31. ^ "Ale trail 'hijacked' by stag parties". BBC News. 28 May 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  32. ^ "Alcohol restrictions on ale trail". BBC News. 16 June 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2019.

Sources

  • Bairstow, Martin (1984). The Leeds, Huddersfield & Manchester Railway. Pudsey: Bairstow. ISBN 0-90243830-1.
  • Body, Geoffrey (1989). Railways of the Eastern Region Volume 2: the Northern Operating Area. Wellingborough: Patrick Stephens. ISBN 1-85260-072-1.
  • Burgess, Neil (2014). The Lost Railways of Yorkshire's West Riding; the Central Section - Bradford, Halifax, Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield. Catrine: Stenlake. ISBN 9781840336573.
  • Haigh, A; Joy, David (1979). Yorkshire Railways. Clapham, Lancashire: Dalesman Books. ISBN 0-85206-553-1.
  • James, Robin (November 2018). "Changing Times at TransPennine Express". Today's Railways. No. 203. Sheffield: Platform 5. ISSN 1475-9713.
  • Nixon, L A (1988). Transpennine Rail Routes. Sparkford: OPC/Haynes. ISBN 0-86093-307-5.
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