Back on Track: One commuter’s nightmare journey on the TransPennine line

The prize is not so much a seat but having a space to stand in the morning during peak times. The huddle in front of the door parts, as a trickle of passengers climb off to be replace by a herd.

This is the penultimate stop before Leeds for the First TransPennine Express service from Manchester.

Onboard are a sea of faces. Those standing have their bodies contorted together. There’s a tall gentleman stretching, like a gymnast, to grasp at a pole. His armpit firmly buried in the face of a not-too-pleased young female passenger leaning against the controls to the door.

Leaning against the doors, a foolhardy soul recklessly opens up a book much to the annoyance of two other passengers, who are clipped by the edges of the paperback as the train sways its way across the rest of West Yorkshire.

Seated at a table is a middle-aged gentleman with a chestnut leather satchel. He stares forlornly out of the window as the train plods along.

A lady opposite him is flicking through Metro as the woman next to her tries to get some sleep. All look as if they have spent far too long in a doctor’s waiting room.

As we enter the tunnel between Morley and Batley, the grinding of the wheels quietens. The change in sound suddenly awakes the sleeping passenger. Swearing under her breath, she tries to get her bearings and establish whether or not she has overshot her stop.

A similar scene is repeated every Wednesday when I have to catch the 7:26 out from Dewsbury to Leeds to get into work early.

The big issue for rail passengers such as myself is the service’s lack of frequency, which adds to the overcrowding.

During the rest of the week, when I can, I try to avoid peak times. But even then I have to ensure I catch a train that is half an hour earlier than my start time, to ensure my manager doesn’t get nervy about my arrival at work when the inevitable delay hits.

The return journey can be just as uncomfortable. In the summer it feels like a furnace, in the winter an industrial freezer. The pacer carriages of Northern Rail offer little solace. At peak times I have seen people stand in the toilets just so they can get to where they need to be.

What should be a simple, short hop for me is an uncomfortable journey. For those commuting from Manchester to Leeds or vice versa, it is an arduous trek.

I can understand why the gentleman with the leather satchel has that forlorn look. I can understand why the lady crumpled in her seat had fallen asleep and why the newspaper in the hands of the passenger next to her had begun to look like a historic periodical. A faster, more frequent, more reliable service is needed on the TransPennine route to alleviate the misery of passengers.

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