Northern boosts services between Leeds, Harrogate and York
Northern is boosting services between Leeds, Harrogate and York to give customers more choice and flexibility.
An additional service has been introduced and there will now be two trains an hour across the route throughout the day.
A launch was held on Friday 17th December at Knaresborough Station, one of the stations to benefit from the additional hourly service. In attendance were representatives from North Yorkshire and Harrogate Councils, York & North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership and Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones.
Tony Baxter, Regional Director at Northern, said: “We’re pleased to be able offer these additional services for customers travelling between Leeds, Harrogate and York.
“Customers are at the heart of everything we do, and the new timetables build on the enhancements we delivered in May and will deliver high levels of reliability.”
“I want to thank our partners for helping us make this happen and I’m sure the communities on the route will value the extra options the investment provides.”
The additional services have been enabled by improvements works carried out by Network Rail and funded by North Yorkshire Council and the York & North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership.
Andrew Jones, Member of Parliament for Harrogate and Knaresborough said: “This investment in local rail is much-needed and welcomed. The signalling upgrade and the improvement project will see more and faster services operating between Leeds, Harrogate and York. This is one more in a long list of improvements in our rail services which have seen more direct services to and from London and improved rolling stock on the local line. It is fantastic news that we have been able to double the capacity on this section of the line.”
The near £10m infrastructure upgrade was completed earlier in the year and saw modern signalling equipment installed along the route and a better track layout to enable more trains to operate every hour.
North Yorkshire County Councillor Don Mackenzie, Executive Member for Access, said: “This timetable improvement, which owes much to the County Council’s £10m track and signals upgrade scheme of last year, complements our transport priority of improving east-west connectivity across the county and region.
“The enhanced timetable is another step towards encouraging people to use public transport rather than their cars. It also supports the visitor economy and anticipates growth in residential and commercial development along the A59 corridor.”
A total of £9.6m was secured by York & North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership from the Government’s Local Growth Fund to support the rail improvements.
David Dickson, Chair of the York & North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership Infrastructure and Joint Assets Board, said: “This landmark moment is the culmination of a great deal of partnership work and technical collaboration. Harrogate – York is an important rail link and the extra capacity will support and drive growth and help create a greener, fairer and stronger economy for the region.”
Full details of the new timetables can be found online via the Northern website or at National Rail Enquiries.
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IMAGE: L-R is Andrew Jones MP, David Dickson (Chair of York and North Yorkshire LEP), Cllr Don Mackenzie (North Yorkshire County Council), Tony Baxter (Northern Regional Director), Wallace Sampson (Chief Exec Harrogate Borough Council)
Local Growth Fund
Local Enterprise Partnerships are playing a vital role in driving forward economic growth across the country, helping to build a country that works for everyone. That’s why by 2021 Government will have invested over £12bn through the Local Growth Fund, allowing LEPs to use their local knowledge to get all areas of the country firing on all cylinders.
Some additional key facts:
- There are 38 LEPs covering the whole of England
- The government has awarded £9.1bn in three rounds of Growth Deals to local areas to drive economic growth.
- LEPs are investing in a wide range of projects informed by detailed analysis of the most pressing economic needs in each of their areas, including transport, skills, business support, broadband, innovation and flood defences.
Northern Powerhouse
- The Northern Powerhouse is a key aspect of this Government’s approach to addressing the productivity gap in the North and ensuring a stronger, more sustainable economy for all parts of the UK.
- The government has awarded £3.4bn in three rounds of Growth Deals across the Northern Powerhouse.
- 17 Enterprise Zones across the North have already attracted £1.3bn of private sector investments and helped attract nearly 9,000 jobs since 2012.