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Huddersfield railway station

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Huddersfield
General information
LocationKirklees
Managed byFirst TransPennine Express
Platforms6
Other information
Station codeHUD
Fare zone5
History
Original companyLondon and North Western Railway
Pre-groupingLondon and North Western Railway/Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway joint
Post-groupingLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
3 August 1847Station opened[1]

Huddersfield railway station serves the town of Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, England.

The station is managed by First TransPennine Express, which provides trains between Manchester and Liverpool in the North West and Newcastle and Middlesbrough in the North East and also to York, Scarborough and Hull via Leeds.

It is also served by local Northern Rail trains on the Huddersfield Line, between Leeds/Wakefield Westgate and Manchester Victoria station.

Additionally the Penistone Line to Sheffield (where the Midland Main Line is reached for services to Leicester and London) and more recently the Caldervale Line for trains towards Halifax and Bradford Interchange.

The station building

Huddersfield railway station by night
Huddersfield railway station in 1980

Designed by the architect James Pigott Pritchett and built by the firm of Joseph Kaye in 1846–50[2][3] using the neo-classical style, the station is well known in architectural circles for its classical-style facade, with a portico of the Corinthian order, consisting of six columns in width and two in depth, which dominates St George's Square. It faces out towards Lion Buildings. It is a grade I listed building. The station frontage was described by John Betjeman as the most splendid in England and by Sir Nikolaus Pevsner as 'one of the best early railway stations in England'.

Two pubs are within the station frontage, to each side of the main entrance: The Head Of Steam and The King's Head (previously known as The Station Tavern).[4] Both facilities are accessible from Platform 1. At the building's entrance, the booking office is to the left and to the right are the train timetables and a newsagent. Platforms 4 to 8 are located via a lift or subway, accessed from Platform 1. The public conveniences are located through this subway at the top of the steps to Platforms 4–8. The platforms are all covered by a large canopy. To the rear of the station are some sidings.

Location

The station is situated on St George's Square, which was refurbished in 2009. The square has been made a pedestrian zone. No car parking is available in front of the station entrance, but it is nearby on Brook Street.

The station is situated a short distance from Huddersfield bus station, so interchange facilities are possible but limited. The Huddersfield FreeCityBus connects the railway station with the bus station, as well as the University of Huddersfield and other areas of the town centre.

Diagram of Huddersfield railway station
Huddersfield station platforms in 1987
Huddersfield railway station from Platform 2

There are six platforms:

  • Platform 1 — Express services to Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester Airport and Liverpool.
  • Platform 2 — Terminus platform for Penistone Line services to/from Sheffield.
  • Platform 4 — Stopping services to Leeds (4a) and Manchester Victoria (4b). (One evening train from Hull terminates at Platform 4a.)
  • Platforms 5 and 6 — Terminus platforms for local services to/from Leeds (via Brighouse, Halifax and Bradford) and Wakefield Westgate.
  • Platform 8 — Express services to Leeds, Hull, York, Scarborough, Middlesbrough and Newcastle Central.

Development

In 2010, Network Rail and First TransPennine Express completed a series of improvements to the station in order to provide better access for passengers. This consisted of two new lifts, and a new staircase to the subway on Platform 1. The new staircase replaced the existing staircase inside the booking hall. As well as this each platform received new information screens. [5]

In early 2011, further improvement works were carried out to the concourse and waiting area. This phase of improvements was funded by the Railway Heritage Trust, Metro, Kirklees council and the National Station’s Improvement Programme. The main purpose of this was to reduce bottlenecks at peak times as well as general crowding. The redundant stable block on Platform 1 was also turned into a staff training centre and toilets.[6]

In May 2013, ticket barriers were installed at the station.[7]

Work is currently underway on Network Rail's Northern Hub project which will see electrification of the Huddersfield Line by 2018, allowing many of the services through the station to switch to newer, faster electric rolling stock.

Services

During Monday to Friday daytimes, TransPennine Express now operate hourly services to Newcastle Central (Journey time approx. 2 hours 10 mins), Hull (approx. 1 hour 20 mins), Scarborough (approx. 1 hour 45 mins), and Middlesbrough (approx. 2 hours 20 mins) plus one further service that terminates at York, all of which call at Leeds (approx. 20 mins), which creates a fast service roughly every 12 minutes. These are supplemented by stopping Northern Rail services. There are four trains per hour to Manchester Piccadilly (approx. 35 mins); two continue to Manchester Airport (approx. 15 mins from Manchester Piccadilly); and another continues to Liverpool Lime Street (approx. 50 mins from Manchester Piccadilly) via Warrington Central. Since the May 2014 timetable change, a further service runs over this line to Liverpool via Manchester Victoria.[8]

Northern Rail operates hourly stopping services to Sheffield (approx. 1 hour 20 mins), Manchester Victoria (approx. 50 mins), Wakefield Westgate (approx 35 mins), Leeds via Bradford Interchange (approx. 1 hour 40 mins) and Leeds via Batley (approx. 40 mins).

Preceding station   National Rail National Rail   Following station
First TransPennine Express
TerminusNorthern Rail
Northern Rail
Manchester Victoria services
Terminus
TerminusNorthern Rail
Leeds and Wakefield services
Northern RailTerminus
Disused railways
L&YRTerminus

Future services

In June 2014, Network Rail accepted Alliance Rail t/a Great North Western Railway Company (GNWR) to operate services six daily services in both directions between London Euston and Leeds and a daily service between Euston and Huddersfield in both directions, via Eccles and Warrington Bank Quay. The services are proposed to start in 2017 using Pendolino trains. [9][10]However, in January 2015 the GNWR proposal was rejected.

Virgin Trains East Coast plan to operate services from London King's Cross via Leeds, beginning in 2019.[11]

Steam trains

In keeping with the on-site Head of Steam railway pub, several steam trains still pass through Huddersfield station, including the Cotton Mill Express and the Scarborough Flyer.[12]

On the disused side of Platform 2, an old carriage is bolted to the ground. Set in its window is a plaque commemorating 100 years of Steamtrain Hoorn Medemblik, a Dutch steam train.

Station cat

The station cat, Felix, joined the staff as a nine week old kitten in 2011.[13] Since then she has patrolled the station to keep it free from rodents, and even has a her own cat-flap to bypass the ticket barriers.[14] In 2016 Felix was promoted to Senior Pest Controller.[15]

References

  1. ^ Bairstow, Martin (1993). The Huddersfield & Sheffield Junction Railway. Martin Bairstow. ISBN 1-871944-08-2.
  2. ^ Railway Magazine, June 1956
  3. ^ Robert William Rennison (1996), Civil Engineering Heritage, 2nd ed, pp 187–188. London: Thomas Telford. ISBN 0-7277-2518-1
  4. ^ Huddersfield Examiner (6 March 2008)
  5. ^ Access improvements complete at Huddersfield Station(Huddersfield Examiner, 20 August 2010)
  6. ^ Above and beyond unveils plans for Huddersfield railway station revamp (Huddersfield Examiner, 5 September 2009)
  7. ^ Ticket barriers go in at Huddersfield railway station(Huddersfield Examiner, 13 May 2013)
  8. ^ GB eNRT 2015-16, Table 39 (Network Rail)
  9. ^ GNWR granted access to West Coast main lineGlobal Rail News
  10. ^ http://www.alliancerail.co.uk/wp-content/themes/alliance/GNWR%20Application/track%20access%20contract/track%20access%20contract.pdf
  11. ^ "Stagecoach-Virgin company awarded InterCity East Coast rail franchise" (Press release). Perth: Stagecoach Group plc. 27 November 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  12. ^ UK Steam "Mainline Steam Tour Programme 2010", 2010 listing.
  13. ^ [1]
  14. ^ [2]
  15. ^ [3]
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