Wednesday, February 8, 2006

Yorkshire Forward has announced that it is investing more than £8 million to increase the train capacity to the tune of 12 extra carriagees on busy lines, which includes the line passing through the Calder Valley.

Chair of Metro’s Rail Working Group, Councillor Claire Townley said:

“The local rail service in West Yorkshire has been a tremendous success story. Past investments by Metro has led to passenger numbers more than doubling over the past ten years.

“If more people are travelling the rail network it means they are not using their cars, which is helping to combat congestion and having a positive impact on environmental impact through lower emissions."

MP Welcomes YF Train Investment

Local MP Chris McCafferty has welcomed the decision by Yorkshire Forward to invest eight million pounds in additional carriages and rolling stock. One of the main lines to benefit will be the Leeds - Halifax - Hebden Bridge line.

Chris said to the Hebden Bridge Web today:

"Rail use has grown dramatically along the Calder Valley over the past seven years. This has been an important development for reducing the growth in traffic congestion, and has also been a sign of the growing economic prosperity of the area.

"But it has led to real problems with severly over-crowded trains.
"I am delighted by the new investment which is being funded by Yorkshire Forward. I hope it will start to make a real difference, and allow for continued growth in the use of rail. I also hope that this investment will prompt the companies involved in the rail service to look at what further improvements are possible to increase the volume of passengers able to use this important link."

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