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16
Jun
Call to improve ‘ridiculous’ lack of late trains serving Harrogate
A rail users’ group has called for more trains to serve Harrogate passengers at night.
Train frequency reduces to hourly from York to Harrogate after 8.14pm at night, and from Leeds to Harrogate after 8.36pm.
It means commuters often face waits of well over 30 minutes.
Twenty-seven trains in Wales are expected to be given to regional train operators in England next year when they are replaced by newer models.
Northern, which operates the line between Leeds and York that stops at Harrogate and Knaresborough, is expected to be in the running to receive at least some of the trains to improve its ageing fleet.
Nina Smith, chair of Railfuture’s Yorkshire branch, said such a move would make sense because Northern does not have enough seats to cope with demand.
Ms Smith said:
Northern are trying their best to run the level of service Yorkshire needs, but because it does not have enough train sets, some rush hour and weekend services are overcrowded meaning very uncomfortable journeys for some. Furthermore, it is unable to prove the service level that some lines need.
It is ridiculous that after half past eight in the evening, there is only an hourly service between Leeds and Harrogate. It is ridiculous that there is only one train a day each way between Goole and Leeds, no acceptable service level between Sheffield and York via Pontefract, and equally ridiculous that there is no local train service between Pontefract and Doncaster.
Better public transport is not just about faster services to London, or between Northern cities, it is also about better services for people living in or visiting our towns and villages.
Her comments came at the start of Better Transport Week, an annual celebration of sustainable transport organised by the national organisation Campaign for Better Transport. It runs from June 15 to 21 this year.
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