Are there still plans for a Huddersfield to London Kings Cross direct service?

[djh1986]

With the East Coast franchise up in the air (as well as the Transpennine electrification debacle) does anyone know if there is still a plan to launch Huddersfield to London direct services on the East Coast?

Virgin & Stagecoach said it would be starting in 2019 when they took the franchise on but seems to have gone quiet. Assumed they'd be extended Leeds services rather than branching off the ECML near Wakefield anyway.

 

[Class 170101]

Could start 1A09 back at Huddersfield now without wires. The only train back would be to extend the 16:03 to Leeds extended through to Huddersfield by the 18:45 from Leeds to London would need to be covered.

Unless there is some way of swapping 17:00 and 17:03 departures from London to make the Leeds train a HST and extend that instead but that still leaves the 19:45 from Leeds to London to cover.

 

[47434]

Pretty convinced there will be the demand but will paths from Leeds to Huddersfield be a challenge? Also, there is only the Harrogate currently via Leeds that has to be a HST - Skipton and Bradford can run with either.

 

[NorthernSpirit]

There's going to be no space on the Huddersfield Line come May with services skip stopping, I also believe that TPE are after a sixth path so there's no chance that Huddersfield will get direct services to London. I can't see any reason why those who reside there don't just travel the four miles to Brighouse and get the GC from there to London, its just as good.

To get more space on the Huddersfield Line would be to quad track the line between Diggle and Raventhorpe, rebuild Mirfield into a four platformed station, electrify the the entire line and then find a path or two to slot in an extra service but even then your not guarenteed that they'll be any space still.

 

[55z]

If one looks at the vtec info you will see that as part of the franchise agreement that a Huddersfield to London King's Cross and return was going to be introduced, not sure about May 2019 as delays to the IEP trains would put it back to May 2020 BUT as DFt are taking over the franchise anything might happen, as I have not faith in anything that DFt do, We will have to see if Rail North is any better. So speculation about St Pancras etc is irrevant.

 

[Andyh82]

There's going to be no space on the Huddersfield Line come May with services skip stopping, I also believe that TPE are after a sixth path so there's no chance that Huddersfield will get direct services to London. I can't see any reason why those who reside there don't just travel the four miles to Brighouse and get the GC from there to London, its just as good.

To get more space on the Huddersfield Line would be to quad track the line between Diggle and Raventhorpe, rebuild Mirfield into a four platformed station, electrify the the entire line and then find a path or two to slot in an extra service but even then your not guarenteed that they'll be any space still.

Is it not in the VTEC franchise agreement, so presumably there is space already thought about?

 

[Ianigsy]

It always struck me as a bit of a PR exercise to begin with, when Huddersfield residents are one change on TPE from three London trains an hour at Manchester or two at Leeds and Wakefield. I could see a benefit if it missed Leeds and went via Wakefield Kirkgate and Hare Park, but otherwise you're getting on a through train which is going to Leeds anyway.

My experience of living in West Yorkshire over the last 20 years is also that the HST-formed extensions to the likes of Harrogate are always the first to be forgotten about on the Monday morning after engineering work if they've been working diversions.

 

[Boysteve]

Also, there is only the Harrogate currently via Leeds that has to be a HST - Skipton and Bradford can run with either

Bradford yes, but I did remember reading in RAIL some time ago that the Skipton service had to be HST, the Airedale lines beyond Skipton only have the current for some EMUS but not the 6,480hp of a class 91. Has this changed?

 

[xotGD]

Bradford yes, but I did remember reading in RAIL some time ago that the Skipton service had to be HST, the Airedale lines beyond Skipton only have the current for some EMUS but not the 6,480hp of a class 91. Has this changed?

The Skipton - KX is a 91 virtually every day.

 

[NorthernSpirit]

Is it not in the VTEC franchise agreement, so presumably there is space already thought about?

I skim read the VTEC franchise agreement, but what dawned on me what the fact that there just simply isn't enough space between Bradley Junction and Thornhill LNW Juntion to shoehorn in an extra service or two.

 

[Kite159]

The Skipton - KX is a 91 virtually every day.

Apart from Saturdays where it needs to be a HST due to it getting routed via Garforth and onto the ECML at Hambleton junctions.

With the issues facing VTEC, I would suspect any of the service enhancements they had planned will actually happen, maybe that token HST to Sunderland last thing at night/first thing in the morning will be cut.

 

[xotGD]

Apart from Saturdays where it needs to be a HST due to it getting routed via Garforth and onto the ECML at Hambleton junctions.

With the issues facing VTEC, I would suspect any of the service enhancements they had planned will actually happen, maybe that token HST to Sunderland last thing at night/first thing in the morning will be cut.

Thanks for that gen - I only use it Monday - Friday.

 

[yorkie]

Bradford yes, but I did remember reading in RAIL some time ago that the Skipton service had to be HST, the Airedale lines beyond Skipton only have the current for some EMUS but not the 6,480hp of a class 91. Has this changed?

Yes, maybe 2-3 years ago now.

 

[Bertie the bus]

The introduction of a Huddersfield service will almost certainly survive. It’s good PR for everybody – the railway and local and national politicians – and in the grand scheme of things would cost pennies to introduce.

 

[The Lad]

Bradford yes, but I did remember reading in RAIL some time ago that the Skipton service had to be HST, the Airedale lines beyond Skipton only have the current for some EMUS but not the 6,480hp of a class 91. Has this changed?

e

I don't think that the Airedale lines beyond Skipton have enough juice for anything electric.

But initially the juice was limited, so was Hitchin to Royston

 

[Spartacus]

Is it not in the VTEC franchise agreement, so presumably there is space already thought about?

That's a good one! lol The franchise agreements and specifications seem to be written up by idiots who don't have a clue about the actually capacity of the line, and it's down to the poor planners to make the best out of a bad job. It was said years ago that TPE's proposed services couldn't be brought in without radical changes to the service pattern, i.e. skip/stop services, but we were told that wouldn't have to be the case...... Same thing happened with the extra ECML services a few years ago which 'HAD' to be brought in without changing the current timetable, which resulted in the only paths being ridiculously slow, to the timetable was eventually recast as everyone in the know knew it would have to be.

 

[BantamMenace]

Yes, maybe 2-3 years ago now.

It was Class 91 around 5 years ago when I used to walk to work at the local pub, it would always pass me around 9:30 returning to Neville Hill from Skipton each Friday evening.

 

[ainsworth74]

It was Class 91 around 5 years ago when I used to walk to work at the local pub, it would always pass me around 9:30 returning to Neville Hill from Skipton each Friday evening.

I believe it was around the same time (ish) as the Eureka timetable came out in 2011 that 91s started going to Skipton regularly.