Shipley TrainCare Centre: More details of £100m rail depot on site of former scrapyard in Yorkshire revealed

In March Rail Minister Huw Merriman visited Shipley to announce that the Crossley Evans site would be transformed into an electric train care depot. The huge facility would bring over 90 jobs to the town, be completed in 2027 and be known as the Shipley TrainCare Centre.

It would see electric trains repaired, maintained and stored in Shipley instead of the Neville Hill depot in East Leeds, which will temporarily shut as part of upcoming Transpennine route work. However, when Neville Hill re-opens, the electric train depot will remain in Shipley.

Now Network Rail has submitted plans for the facility to Bradford Council, with artist’s impressions showing the massive scale of the development. Buildings on the site will include a 148.5 metre by 41.9 metre maintenance building, an under-frame cleaning facility, carriage wash machine and gatehouse building.

The application says: “It has been a long-term ambition of the rail industry to seek improved depot and traincare facilities for the electric fleet serving the Wharfedale and Airedale lines, as the facility currently at Neville Hill is near capacity and is not located centrally to serve the routes.

“A detailed feasibility study of alternative locations was produced during 2021 which identified the location at Shipley as the most suitable in meeting the criteria required for a new depot facility.

“The purpose of the depot is to provide day-to-day railway servicing, maintenance and stabling of trains associated with the Northern franchise and will see the typical class 331 and 333 electric multiple units used on the Airedale and Wharfedale routes utilising the facility.

“The land is currently being cleared of the scrapyard operation. Once cleared the basic trackwork and associated civil engineering works will be established.

“The depot will be operational 24 hours a day throughout the week and weekends. It is anticipated that approximately 92 staff (full time equivalent) will be employed at the site, with normal operation comprising four shift teams with an average shift attendance of up to 28 on site at any one time.”

Referring to the previous use of the site, the application says: “The previous use as a scrapyard was visually and environmentally intrusive, so the provision of modern buildings as part of a depot facility is an improvement in amenity in any event.”

A decision on the application is expected in July.