Transport Forum calls for city to have say on trains

23rd November 2016

Sheffield Chamber of Commerce is calling for businesses and commuters in Sheffield to have a say on proposed changes to train services between Sheffield, Wakefield and Leeds.

The Chamber's Transport Forum wants people to take part in a consultation exercise following Cross Country Trains' (XCT) recent successful negotiation with the government on a franchise extension including trains serving the Sheffield to Wakefield and Leeds corridor. Peter Kennan, Chair of the Transport Forum and a Partner at Hawsons Chartered Accountants, said: -We have been campaigning for a long time for better rail services between Sheffield and Leeds because the present XCT long distance express services operate once an hour and are generally made up of trains unsuitable for an inter-urban flow. As a result, they are often overcrowded with passengers having to stand for the whole journey. -An hourly Northern Rail express service will begin in 2019 using new trains, so we will have two fast trains per hour, but this is still way below what the service between two major cities should be for example Glasgow and Edinburgh already have four. -Sheffield Chamber was consulted by the government and XCT as part of the franchise extension process and we are pleased there has been recognition of the overcrowding on Sheffield to Leeds trains. -Some proposals have now been tabled which, if approved, would take effect from December 2017 including XCT providing an extra Sheffield to Leeds fast service in the morning with a return service in the evening peak offering additional seating capacity. The problem is that this is mostly achieved by taking rolling stock from other trains and so, to a large extent, is smoke and mirrors. -It is time for the Department for Transport and XCT to provide meaningful increases in capacity on Sheffield to Leeds services by focusing resources on core routes and cutting routes to free up trains where there are alternative operators. -We hope there is still time to influence the Department for Transport and XCT's thinking on this issue and would encourage people to take part and make their voice heard. The consultation exercise closes on 2 January 2017. To take part visit https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/xc2017consultation.