The Yorkshire towns that need better rail links – Yorkshire Post Letters

WHILST I’m not opposed to the principle of HS2, it is disappointing to see politicians more vocal about long distance connectivity than local connectivity between places such as Bradford and Huddersfield, Otley and even Harrogate.

The eight ‘lost’ Yorkshire railway lines that should be reopened - Yorkshire Post Letters

Bradford and Huddersfield used to be much more closely connected via the Pickle Bridge Line before it was closed in 1952, forcing the present and only direct rail service to go an additional 6.4 miles via Halifax. It is no wonder why the 72 bus is much more popular!

Otley is reputably the largest town within West Yorkshire without a rail station. A few years ago a feasibility study was conducted that could have seen direct services to Leeds and Bradford, but this seems to have simply been put on the shelf and left. Yet we don’t seem to have any politicians shouting about this?

Harrogate is home to some of the largest event/conference spaces in the region. Despite being a key town, it is poorly connected to Bradford and it is essentially a dead end if you wanted to head further North without trailing eastwards to York!

In future, and for balance, it would be great to see our politicians shouting more about local connectivity as well please.

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