New trains make bow on Chester to Leeds route

The Class 195 trains made their maiden journeys in customer service on the route this morning (Monday), also calling at Warrington, Manchester and along the Calder Valley.

David Brown, Northern's Managing Director, said: "Featuring free customer Wi-Fi, at-seat charging and full air conditioning, the brand-new trains are a step-change in quality for our customers and it's fantastic to see the operating through Cheshire, Greater Manchester and into West Yorkshire.

"Our new trains represent a £500m investment in local rail in the north and are part of our wider improvement plan which is also seeing all other trains fully refurbished, Pacers retired and significant improvements at stations across the network."

David added: "We now have 29 new trains serving customers on routes across the north of England and  expect to introduce many more before Christmas - with a total of 101 due to arrive on the network during 2020."

Customers on the route were given a sneak preview of the trains last week at three special events held in Chester, Manchester and along the Calder Valley - with the new route taking in stations including Todmorden, Hebden Bridge, Mytholmroyd, Sowerby Bridge and Halifax.

Roman soldiers heralded one of the new trains - named Deva Victrix - at Chester, whilst two local poets helped launch Calder Champion at the Bradford event. The poets, Alex Asher and Steve Nash, even penned special works to mark the arrival of the new trains.

The nine brand-new trains operating between Cheshire and West Yorkshire may not move other Northern customers to poetry, but they will certainly be music to their ears.