Rail upgrades are pointless if trains don’t stop at stations - Yorkshire Post Letters

The present improvements being made on the Trans Pennine railway routes and any in the future associated with the Northern Powerhouse railway upgrades are rather pointless if passengers cannot actually board trains running on these lines.

I seem to recall that a considerable amount of money was spent on extending the platforms on Cross Gates station so that they could accommodate the six carriage trains used by Trans Pennine railways. It appears to have been a rather wasted exercise as only two carriage Northern Railway trains now stop there and they are very infrequent.

While I understand that express services between Liverpool/Manchester and the North East wouldn’t stop there, trains to and from places like Scarborough should.

Some new stations like Kirkstall Forge and Apperley Bridge also have many trains passing through but very few stop there. The whole point of building these stations was to reduce traffic congestion by offering alternative transportation provision. If there are no regular services available people will continue to use their cars.