Hand-me-down trains to ease rail congestion

The Department for Transport said an additional 22 carriages will start being added to Northern Rail’s fleet in December.

The carriages will not be new, but “cascaded” down from other operators as part of a programme that will see 2,700 new carriages introduced elsewhere in the country.

Northern Rail’s extra rolling stock is coming from London Midland and First Great Western.

A Northern Rail spokeswoman said there would be an additional 836 seats each day through Leeds and 369 through Sheffield.

Business leaders welcomed the support but said it was frustrating not to see new investment in the transport network.

Gary Williamson, chief executive of Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “It is disappointing that Yorkshire gets the South’s cast-offs, but there is a urgent need for additional rolling stock in this region and these new carriages will help relieve some of the capacity issues on peak-time services.”

The Government said in total the additional carriages will offer seats for as many as 8,800 more railway passengers in Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield and Newcastle.

The extra carriages will become available when 69 new carriages are delivered to London Midland for use in the Birmingham area.

Carriages currently being used by London Midland will be transferred to the Northern Rail and First Great Western franchises.

Then some First Great Western trains will be transferred to Northern Rail.

Northern Rail managing director Ian Bevan said: “We are delighted that we will be able to provide much needed additional capacity for our passengers from December.

“These carriages will deliver an extra 214,000 seats on peak time services in and around Leeds every year.

“Overcrowding has been one of the biggest challenges we have faced and one of the biggest causes of complaint for passengers.”

The Government said the cost of the investment is £16.7m – the net cost of additional passenger services until the end of each franchise.

Transport Minister Theresa Villiers said: “Today’s good news has been made possible by our plans to introduce 2,700 new rail carriages on to the network by May 2019.

“As well as improving life for passengers, these rail improvements will play an important role in strengthening economic growth.”

Metro, the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive, said it was the first significant increase in train services since their £20m partnership with Yorkshire Forward and Northern.

Chairman James Lewis said: “While today’s announcement is good news, passenger numbers on West Yorkshire’s rail network have grown by over 50 per cent over the past decade and will carry on rising.

“It is important that we continue planning ahead to ensure that any future franchises for local services includes measures to meets that ongoing growth.”