Lord Blunkett sets out plan to fix Yorkshire’s railways

[Andyh82]

A new report has been published today by Lord Blunkett in conjunction with Yorkshire’s 3 Labour mayors detailing a plan to improve Yorkshire’s rail network

The News article is here

https://www.westyorks-ca.gov.uk/all-news-and-blogs/lord-blunkett-sets-out-phased-plan-to-fix-yorkshire-s-broken-rail-network/

It talks about infrastructure, rolling stock and services…

In the first five years investment is proposed to deliver:
New stations at Haxby, Elland, White Rose, Thorpe Park, Rotherham Gateway, Waverley, Leeds-Bradford Airport Parkway, and Dearne Valley Parkway.
Business case development for a new through-station at Bradford and NPR network.
Station capacity at Leeds and Sheffield
Station upgrades at Malton, Seamer, and Scarborough
Platform extensions across the network
Leeds platform 17 extension
Platform 0 Bradford Forster Square
New/improved services for Bradford – Kings Cross, Leeds – Sheffield (fast), Sheffield – York XC (reinstated), Leeds - Goole, Bradford Forster Square – Skipton/Ilkley, Barnsley – London (peak), Wakefield and Five Towns, Penistone Line, Esk Valley, and York – Scarborough.
New rolling stock for Northern leading to longer trains and more frequent services.
Extension and renewal of the South Yorkshire tram network, and spades in the ground on West Yorkshire’s tram network.
Ongoing Transpennine Route Upgrade programme between Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds and York.

The full report is here https://www.westyorks-ca.gov.uk/media/dc1kmwkh/yorkshires-plan-for-rail-accessible.pdf

They are asking the treasury for 14 billion over the next 15 years…

Will they get it, or will it go the same way as loads of other similar plans and get kicked into the long grass. I know where I’d place my bets.

 

[Farnborough]

Compared to the flannel from the other side of the Pennines, this looks a sensibly costed proposal... and at £1bn/year (over 15 years) in the noise of Government spending even with a bit of front-loading.

A sort of JFDI project.

 

[norbitonflyer]

A new report has been published today by Lord Blunkett in conjunction with Yorkshire’s 3 Labour mayors detailing a plan to improve Yorkshire’s rail network

The News article is here

https://www.westyorks-ca.gov.uk/all-news-and-blogs/lord-blunkett-sets-out-phased-plan-to-fix-yorkshire-s-broken-rail-network/

It talks about infrastructure, rolling stock and services…

In the first five years investment is proposed to deliver:
New stations at Haxby, Elland, White Rose, Thorpe Park, Rotherham Gateway, Waverley, Leeds-Bradford Airport Parkway, and Dearne Valley Parkway.
Business case development for a new through-station at Bradford and NPR network.
Station capacity at Leeds and Sheffield
Station upgrades at Malton, Seamer, and Scarborough
Platform extensions across the network
Leeds platform 17 extension
Platform 0 Bradford Forster Square
New/improved services for Bradford – Kings Cross, Leeds – Sheffield (fast), Sheffield – York XC (reinstated), Leeds - Goole, Bradford Forster Square – Skipton/Ilkley, Barnsley – London (peak), Wakefield and Five Towns, Penistone Line, Esk Valley, and York – Scarborough.
New rolling stock for Northern leading to longer trains and more frequent services.
Extension and renewal of the South Yorkshire tram network, and spades in the ground on West Yorkshire’s tram network.
Ongoing Transpennine Route Upgrade programme between Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds and York.

The full report is here https://www.westyorks-ca.gov.uk/media/dc1kmwkh/yorkshires-plan-for-rail-accessible.pdf

They are asking the treasury for 14 billion over the next 15 years…

Will they get it, or will it go the same way as loads of other similar plans and get kicked into the long grass. I know where I’d place my bets.

No sign of Skipton-Colne then? Or are cross-border links not of interest?

 

[dorsetdesiro]

It seems the other part of Yorkshire got forgotten about - the East Riding, any reason for it to be left out?

 

[Tetchytyke]

Other than the hairy old chestnut about Bradford- it really isn’t needed- there’s not much to disagree with there. And it’ll certainly be better value for money than the billions wasted on HS2!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 May 2025 ==

any reason for it to be left out?

Hull and East Yorkshire isn’t part of the group which commissioned the report.

 

[YorksLad12]

In the first five years investment is proposed to deliver:
New stations at Haxby, Elland, White Rose, Thorpe Park, Rotherham Gateway, Waverley, Leeds-Bradford Airport Parkway, and Dearne Valley Parkway.
Business case development for a new through-station at Bradford and NPR network.
Station capacity at Leeds and Sheffield
Station upgrades at Malton, Seamer, and Scarborough
Platform extensions across the network
Leeds platform 17 extension
Platform 0 Bradford Forster Square
New/improved services for Bradford – Kings Cross, Leeds – Sheffield (fast), Sheffield – York XC (reinstated), Leeds - Goole, Bradford Forster Square – Skipton/Ilkley, Barnsley – London (peak), Wakefield and Five Towns, Penistone Line, Esk Valley, and York – Scarborough.
New rolling stock for Northern leading to longer trains and more frequent services.
Extension and renewal of the South Yorkshire tram network, and spades in the ground on West Yorkshire’s tram network.
Ongoing Transpennine Route Upgrade programme between Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds and York.

The full report is here https://www.westyorks-ca.gov.uk/media/dc1kmwkh/yorkshires-plan-for-rail-accessible.pdf

They are asking the treasury for 14 billion over the next 15 years…

Will they get it, or will it go the same way as loads of other similar plans and get kicked into the long grass. I know where I’d place my bets.

Bits in bold are happening this month, I think, so that would be a very quick win

We've had the consultation on the extension of P17 at Leeds. White Rose Station was 70% built when they ran out of money. Northern's already got its bids out for new bi-modes.

While I am generally quite positive of local efforts, this is just re-announcing stuff with a different number attached. Most of isn’t funded, and most of the stuff that is is being delivered already.

 

[Tomos y Tanc]

They are asking the treasury for 14 billion over the next 15 years…

Will they get it, or will it go the same way as loads of other similar plans and get kicked into the long grass. I know where I’d place my bets.

Difficult to call, really. The electoral threat from Reform may give the north of England a bit of political clout at the moment but with so much already being invested in Trans-Penine improvements, other regions may argue that they're being hard done by.

Improvements to the South West mainline, for example, might be more politically expedient than further investments in the north of England.

£14 billion does seem to be an awful lot for essentially local improvments given that the whole South Wales Metro programme has come in at just north of £1 billion.

 

[bluenoxid]

It seems the other part of Yorkshire got forgotten about - the East Riding, any reason for it to be left out?

They had no Mayor to sign an agreement to commission this report. That can now change with the election of Luke Campbell earlier this month.

 

[quantinghome]

Other than the hairy old chestnut about Bradford- it really isn’t needed- there’s not much to disagree with there.

It frees up space at Leeds. Got to send those extra trains somewhere...

And it’ll certainly be better value for money than the billions wasted on HS2!

HS2 would have provided the backbone to a lot of the upgrades. The infrastructure required to get 4 fast Leeds-Sheffield trains per hour is undefined in this report, but it would have to be an upgrade of the existing line, or a new line which would look suspiciously like bits of HS2.

 

[Halish Railway]

HS2 would have provided the backbone to a lot of the upgrades. The infrastructure required to get 4 fast Leeds-Sheffield trains per hour is undefined in this report, but it would have to be an upgrade of the existing line, or a new line which would look suspiciously like bits of HS2.

Surely just upgrading the infamously slow Hallam line and retaining the existing frequency of the semi-fast trains would be enough to provide 4 fast trains per hour between Leeds and Sheffield, in addition to the hourly CrossCountry service and Northern fast service via Wakefield Westgate (starting December 2025). Certainly it’s an attractive option if Northern intend to run 3 or 4 car trains on the route once platform 17 at Leeds is extended.

 

[Iskra]

Surely just upgrading the infamously slow Hallam line and retaining the existing frequency of the semi-fast trains would be enough to provide 4 fast trains per hour between Leeds and Sheffield, in addition to the hourly CrossCountry service and Northern fast service via Wakefield Westgate (starting December 2025). Certainly it’s an attractive option if Northern intend to run 3 or 4 car trains on the route once platform 17 at Leeds is extended.

Where is this confirmed please, do you have a source?

 

[quantinghome]

Surely just upgrading the infamously slow Hallam line and retaining the existing frequency of the semi-fast trains would be enough to provide 4 fast trains per hour between Leeds and Sheffield, in addition to the hourly CrossCountry service and Northern fast service via Wakefield Westgate (starting December 2025). Certainly it’s an attractive option if Northern intend to run 3 or 4 car trains on the route once platform 17 at Leeds is extended.

This is straying into speculative territory, so if the mods want to split this into a new thread please do so.

The Hallam line is typically 50 - 75 mph and it's slightly longer than the Moorthorpe route (41 vs 39 miles). To reduce the journey time down to the current 'fast' (but is it though???) service, you'd have to increase the average end-to-end speed by 33% i.e. a 100 mph railway. While you may be able to speed up some of it a bit, there are enough stops and tightish curves to make that overall journey time reduction infeasible. And really, we should be aiming for a 30 minute journey time.

The Moorthorpe route has far gentler curves and former 4-track sections making it more amenable to an upgrade to both speed and capacity.

Also the Hallam line goes through a lot of built-up areas so really should be the kind of metro-style stopping service which has transformed Airedale.

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

No sign of Skipton-Colne then? Or are cross-border links not of interest?

I take it you were being sarcastic. Because the so-called case for this has been debunked here many times.

 

[Andyh82]

I still can’t understand why they are still banging on about a new station for Bradford, up hill, distant from the city centre

It seems they have a bee in their bonnet that no station in Bradford will ever be good enough until it’s a ‘through’ station with no buffer stops.

Most of the other stuff is fairly sensible, but has been reheated so many times. White Rose was left half finished, Elland should have opened 25 years ago. The debates about a station for the airport have been done dozens of times. Better links to Manchester Airport have also been on the table for a decade. The tram has been announced and then cancelled about 3 times under different governments.

 

[Halish Railway]

I still can’t understand why they are still banging on about a new station for Bradford, up hill, distant from the city centre

My understanding is that a through station will significantly increase capacity. Having almost every service turn around at Bradford Interchange essentially doubles the number of movements across the station throat and Mill Lane Junction.

Should you want to add more services you’d really be pushed for capacity and resilience, so adding capacity by enabling some services to call at a through station will be vital in getting other schemes over the line, namely reopening the Spen Valley.

But I agree that the arguments for opening a through station haven’t been articulated very well, other than opening a through station for the sake of it.

 

[InkyScrolls]

No sign of Skipton-Colne then? Or are cross-border links not of interest?

No, because there is no business case for it.

 

[Masbroughlad]

Will Barnsley ever be linked to Doncaster and Rotherham by train or tram? The really should be, to link the main South Yorkshire towns.

I also wondered, if Barnsley will get London trains again, maybe Rotherham will/should too? Masbrough used to have one in BR days. At least one Leeds to London stopped there each way. I remember an HST power car was named Rotherham Enterprise on one of those down services.

MML used to operate the Barnsley to London services, until they were cut. I often thought they should have run one from Rotherham Central. As the EMR TOC will no longer exist soon and, we don't know what structure or organisations will replace them, is it unknown where Barnsley to London will fall. Intercity type operation? A region? A MML business profit centre? A semi-fast regional service? It's all up in the air, I guess!

I think Barnsley to London used to be 170s with first class and a buffet car under MML? Like the Burton-on-Trent to London trains?

Wish I had a crystal ball!

 

[Halish Railway]

Where is this confirmed please, do you have a source?

East Coast Main Line Timetable Change – December 2025

Northern | Buy Cheap Train Tickets and Check Train Times

www.northernrailway.co.uk

A new East Coast Mainline train timetable will be introduced in December 2025, introducing more trains, more seats and quicker journeys. It will also ensure better local services in many regions.

While there won’t be significant changes to Northern’s services, we are pleased that the timetable will mean we can:

• Introduce a new Leeds – Sheffield fast service calling at Wakefield Westgate.
• Increase the frequency of the semi-fast service on the Durham Coast from two hourly to hourly (subject to funding confirmation).

 

[Iskra]

East Coast Main Line Timetable Change – December 2025

Northern | Buy Cheap Train Tickets and Check Train Times

www.northernrailway.co.uk

Awesome news, thanks for sharing!

 

[Mugby]

So will the new Leeds - Sheffield fast service be just that, stopping at Wakefield Westgate only? I can't see any point in putting in any other stops except possibly Meadowhall. A huge number of people travel between Sheffield and Leeds and the current provision of one fast train per hour (XC) is hopelessly inadequate. The other "fast" trains via Barnsley aren't terribly appealing and don't address the problem - as I believe it was thought they would when first introduced.
A second fast service via the Moorthorpe route is desperatlely needed, subject to capacity issues at Sheffield and Leeds and certainly requiring more than a 2-car unit!

 

[Iskra]

So will the new Leeds - Sheffield fast service be just that, stopping at Wakefield Westgate only? I can't see any point in putting in any other stops except possibly Meadowhall. A huge number of people travel between Sheffield and Leeds and the current provision of one fast train per hour (XC) is hopelessly inadequate. The other "fast" trains via Barnsley aren't terribly appealing and don't address the problem - as I believe it was thought they would when first introduced.
A second fast service via the Moorthorpe route is desperatlely needed, subject to capacity issues at Sheffield and Leeds and certainly requiring more than a 2-car unit!

I agree it should be Meadowhall and Wakey Westgate, some clarification on that would be welcome from Northern. The good news about it running via Westgate is that there’s no P17 involved so it wouldn’t be limited to 2 carriages for that reason. However, do Northern have the spare stock for anything longer than 2 carriages? Maybe they could nick the 3 car 158’s instead? Even if it is just 2 carriage trains though, that’s still an additional 2 carriages per hour, although I suspect they may be somewhat cosy. Would they want to use 195’s for superior speed and acceleration on a faster route pathed around Intercity services?

 

[stuu]

£14bn? For some new platforms/stations and some electrification? No new/reinstated lines? Something has gone seriously wrong with infrastructure costs in this country. Austria, famously low cost and low wage, is about to open the Koralmbahn high speed line, delivering 130km of new line through the Alps for less than we are paying for the current Transpennine programme which won't come close to matching the capacity and speed improvements

 

[fishwomp]

I still can’t understand why they are still banging on about a new station for Bradford, up hill, distant from the city centre

It is an admission that Bradford is not a destination. It is about building a station near a big road with big population catchment to get drivers in to go to work in Leeds.

It seems they have a bee in their bonnet that no station in Bradford will ever be good enough until it’s a ‘through’ station with no buffer stops.

Rename Frizinghall ?

 

[Masbroughlad]

Sheffield used to have two trains to Leeds via Rotherham (in addition to Intercity and via Barnsley services). One was a stopper, one Rotherham and Wakefield Westgate only.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Other than the hairy old chestnut about Bradford- it really isn’t needed- there’s not much to disagree with there. And it’ll certainly be better value for money than the billions wasted on HS2!

Seconded. @Tetchytyke please run for Parliament - then the UK will get at least one person speaking common sense in the Commons!

 

[3RDGEN]

I agree it should be Meadowhall and Wakey Westgate, some clarification on that would be welcome from Northern. The good news about it running via Westgate is that there’s no P17 involved so it wouldn’t be limited to 2 carriages for that reason. However, do Northern have the spare stock for anything longer than 2 carriages? Maybe they could nick the 3 car 158’s instead? Even if it is just 2 carriage trains though, that’s still an additional 2 carriages per hour, although I suspect they may be somewhat cosy. Would they want to use 195’s for superior speed and acceleration on a faster route pathed around Intercity services?

The draft Dec 2025 timetables had it running Monday - Sunday hourly with approximate timings;

Leeds dep XX:45, Sheffield arr XX:38,

Sheffield dep XX:45/51 (alternate hours), Leeds arr XX:38, stopping Wakefield Westgate only.

If they are planning to use the same unit out and back there isn't time for a stop at Meadowhall given the turnrounds are already tight, need to wait until the confirmed timetables are issued to see if it comes off. Not aware Northern are getting any extra units by December so how it's going to be resourced is a question.

 

[Iskra]

The draft Dec 2025 timetables had it running Monday - Sunday hourly with approximate timings;

Leeds dep XX:45, Sheffield arr XX:38,

Sheffield dep XX:45/51 (alternate hours), Leeds arr XX:38, stopping Wakefield Westgate only.

If they are planning to use the same unit out and back there isn't time for a stop at Meadowhall given the turnrounds are already tight, need to wait until the confirmed timetables are issued to see if it comes off. Not aware Northern are getting any extra units by December so how it's going to be resourced is a question.

Thanks for the informative response

 

[Peterthegreat]

All rather nice to have but in the short term they would be better pressuring Northern, DfT and Government to reduce the cancellation levels, particularly on services at Sheffield. Still far too many.

 

[Class 170101]

No sign of Skipton-Colne then? Or are cross-border links not of interest?

Whilst Skipton to Colne may not make a lot of money as a whole I do worry about cross border links with all these mayoralties being setup. They will look at their own electoral areas and ignore those outside it whilst also not appreciating that people within their electoral area don't always stay there and travel to things outside of it.

HS2 would have provided the backbone to a lot of the upgrades. The infrastructure required to get 4 fast Leeds-Sheffield trains per hour is undefined in this report, but it would have to be an upgrade of the existing line, or a new line which would look suspiciously like bits of HS2.

The local lines between Sheffield and Leeds need to be used to support those people in that area travelling intermediately to / from either Sheffield or Leeds rather than those travelling from the Centres of Leeds and Sheffield. Thats what HS2 is needed for.

Will Barnsley ever be linked to Doncaster and Rotherham by train or tram? The really should be, to link the main South Yorkshire towns.

Does it need to be? Its one change at Meadowhall. Is there actually much demand for services between those towns? I would say its more likely to be Tram Train if at all via an extnsion of the Sheffield Supertram from Meadowhall to Barnsley and from Parkgate to Doncaster

I also wondered, if Barnsley will get London trains again, maybe Rotherham will/should too? Masbrough used to have one in BR days. At least one Leeds to London stopped there each way. I remember an HST power car was named Rotherham Enterprise on one of those down services.

But presumably that was because the HSTs were maintained at Neville Hill and so MML HSTs had to run to / from Leeds. There might have been a value if EMRs new Class 810s were being maintained at Doncaster IEP depot but I don't think they are going to be.

MML used to operate the Barnsley to London services, until they were cut. I often thought they should have run one from Rotherham Central. As the EMR TOC will no longer exist soon and, we don't know what structure or organisations will replace them, is it unknown where Barnsley to London will fall. Intercity type operation? A region? A MML business profit centre? A semi-fast regional service? It's all up in the air, I guess!

If it came back it would be an extension of the MML Intercity but I can't see any value in it. Rotherham if IEPs were being maintained at Doncaster but otherwise no.

I think Barnsley to London used to be 170s with first class and a buffet car under MML? Like the Burton-on-Trent to London trains?

I thought they both finished with Class 222s? Matlock lost its London services when the MML went over to Class 222s as the Matlock route has only been maintained for Sprinters since its closure as a through route to Manchester

Other than the hairy old chestnut about Bradford- it really isn’t needed- there’s not much to disagree with there. And it’ll certainly be better value for money than the billions wasted on HS2!

I disagree with you about both Bradford and HS2.

Bradford should be part of NPR that serves Liverpool, Manchester Airport, Manchester, Bradford, Leeds, branching to York and then onwards to Newcastle, and a separate branch to Hull. At Bradford NPR would need a new station is it possible to build it in such a way as to link Interchange and Forster Square stations underground similar to Crossrail with Moorgate and Liverpool Street?

For HS2 I think this is needed to spread out the 1.5m homes that Angela Rayner proposes to build by June 2029 and probably another 1.5m by 2033 - 35. Otherwise most will be built in the overheating southeast of England. At least HS2 would give house builders a reason to build houses around Derby and Nottingham (and maybe Sheffield), as well as around Crewe, Birmingham and Manchester as those cities become closer to London as well as those businesses hopefully moving north knowing that London is still within easy reach via HS2 whilst being cheaper to run away from London prices. The South East is already struggling with water supply with some businesses being told they cannot expand due to lack of resilence of supply. Also it would bring people closer to the areas where electricity supply is more readily available and perhaps avoid controversial decisions like building another 400KV power line between Norwich and Tilbury.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Other than the hairy old chestnut about Bradford- it really isn’t needed- there’s not much to disagree with there. And it’ll certainly be better value for money than the billions wasted on HS2!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 May 2025 ==


Hull and East Yorkshire isn’t part of the group which commissioned the report.

Even the Bradford thing isn't needed. I've long been sceptical of the proposal to link the two stations and I've gone into why elsewhere on here... but this current proposal isn't even that- it's replacing Interchange (which isn't the best facility but is at least adequate for the service it gets and is in the city centre) with a station somewhere near the A650 Wakefield Road, nowhere near the city centre.