A new train service linking Bradford, Halifax, and Sheffield could revolutionise rail travel across West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire, according to campaigners.
The Halifax and District Rail Action Group (Hadrag) has urged the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) to prioritise immediate rail improvements in its draft Local Transport Plan, rather than waiting for long-term high-speed or mass transit projects.
The group is campaigning for direct services from Bradford, Halifax, Elland, and Brighouse to Sheffield, travelling via Mirfield, Barnsley, and Meadowhall.
Stephen Waring, chairman of Hadrag, said: “Bradford and even more so Calderdale rail users are sick and tired of having to go via Leeds and change trains if they want to get to Sheffield and the East Midlands.
“It can take the best part of two hours just to reach Sheffield.
“A direct route would almost halve some of these times.”
The proposed route would use the mothballed Crigglestone curve, last used in the late 1980s, to create a faster, more direct connection.
Journeys from Brighouse to Sheffield could take about 50 minutes under the plan.
Hadrag also supports the construction of a new stop at Horbury to serve Ossett.
The proposal was referenced in Greengauge 21’s 2022 study, Sheffield-Leeds: What’s Next?, and is listed as an aspiration in WYCA’s 2024 rail strategy.
Mr Waring added: “We also expect WYCA to maintain commitment to more and faster trains from the new station due to open soon at Elland as well as Brighouse to Leeds via Dewsbury.”
He stressed that rail users should not have to wait decades for high-speed lines that may never serve local stations, and that mass transit, while welcome, is not a substitute for faster intercity connections.
Hadrag is also calling for full electrification of the Calder Valley line, saying: “Battery trains waste energy and will not do in the long term.
“It is pleasing to see commitment in the West Yorkshire’s plan.
“All branches of our line need to be wired over time to give an electric railway York and Leeds via both Bradford and Brighouse to Manchester, and also through Burnley and Blackburn to Preston linking with the Blackpool line.”
