Fundamentally it is, driven by politicians but also to truly take on the motor vehicle. And as intercity services won't be using the same tracks as local services for the vast majority of the route - then it's not really an issue at all. With fast services realistically only sharing a two track railway Dewsbury - Leeds.
Don't you see how keeping Dewsbury-Leeds as two-track imposes a massive bottleneck? The IRP is talking about at least 8 fast trains per hour between Leeds and Manchester. You can't fit that in with a turn up and go local metro service.
No it doesn't. Four tracking Huddersfield to Westtown largely solves that issue to the east of Huddersfield
It certainly improves things and would allow the proposed TRU timetable. But the IRP plan for 8 fast trains per hour will inevitably mean losing out on local services.
and to the west, from what I understand that section will be at least three tracked. Even then Slaithwaite and Marsden don't particularly warrant 2tph bar peak times. And I say that having been to Marsden a number of times during the day to walk on Marsden Moor and being the only person boarding/alighting there.
Because no plans for Huddersfield to Stalybridge as part of TRU or NPR are out there in the public domain. But having spoken to someone working on TRU, 3 tracking looks like its going ahead. Just because there's not 3 tracks leaving from Huddersfield west immediately doesn't mean they won't happen.
Well, I await the details. But reinstatement of three or four tracks from Marsden to Huddersfield will mean tightening the curves on the route, reducing the linespeed.
Bradford never had NPR. What was driven by TfN and Bradford City Council were ideas. Even then, what local stations lose out? Bramley has 3tph, New Pudsey 4tph. Nobody else on the Calder Valley Route would've benefitted from more services with NPR going via Bradford.
They were serious proposals which the government dismissed with no analysis.
NPR to Bradford would have allowed the Calder Valley route to focus on provide intensive commuter services.
The government's sop to Bradford is electrification from Leeds to Interchange and a fast service with a 12 minute journey time. How are those local station stopping frequencies going to be maintained under that plan? It would leave no space in the timetable for new stations e.g. Armley and Laisterdyke. I doubt anyone involved in writing the IRP has bothered to think about this.
Let's also not forget the role of ETCS in all of this which will enable better running of services.
Magic signalling will not change the fundamental constraints of a mixed-use railway.
Really?! Dewsbury is set to have 5tph post TRU, Batley 3tph, Mirfield 4tph. Stalybridge with have 6tph including Northern services terminating. That more than accommodates the current demands and future growth. Most other stations simply don't and never will have the demand for 4 stoppers an hour - and let's not forget the vision for a WY tram system which covers many of those local stations.
And what will happen to those stopping frequencies post-NPR when we have 8 fast trains per hour from Manchester to Leeds?
WY mass transit is mode-neutral - it considers trams, buses, tram-train and heavy rail. So there's nothing to say that these stations are going to get trams as an alternative to heavy rail. A heavy rail commuter services is the obvious choice as (a) the infrastructure is already in place and (b) heavy rail is much quicker than a tram. If you're interested in taking on the car, that's where the big wins are. I cannot agree that 'most other stations' will never have the demand for 4 tph. The Huddersfield line is an ideal candidate for a high frequency metro service - the Airedale and Wharfedale lines already manage something approaching this and they serve a significantly smaller population. But they can only do that because they don't have capacity eaten up by high speed long distance services.
Speed, competition with the motor vehicle, freight, prospective Birmingham services, ability to increase local services west of Huddersfield (Burnham has called for 2tph at Mossley/Greenfield and a new line enables the capacity for that. There's plenty of point even if you don't see it.
Oh I'm not denying that it will provide some improvements, but those improvements will be inevitably compromised. Something will have to give, and as is always the way, it will be local services, and we will never have a local rail network in WY with the type of turn up and go service that can out-compete the car.
