Kirklees students left waiting at the platform as pressure builds on rail operator

13 January 2023

College students studying in Huddersfield will have to wait for around an hour for a train to take them home at the end of the day, according to a senior West Yorkshire politician.

Coun Manisha Kaushik, deputy chair of West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s Transport Committee, has slammed rail operator TransPennine Express for leaving huge gaps between services running between Dewsbury and Huddersfield, saying the operator only informed the public at the last minute.

Coun Kaushik is calling on the operator to reinstate more regular services between the two stations.

Among the changes is a gap between 3.49pm and 4.46pm, during which time there is not a single service from Huddersfield to Dewsbury.

Coun Kaushik said: "I am flabbergasted at how the new timetable includes hour-long gaps on one of the region’s main local rail routes. This is a completely unacceptable abandonment of the two biggest towns in our region.

"This will particularly impact students travelling home to Dewsbury from Greenhead College in Huddersfield. How can we expect young people to make good choices about further education while asking them to sacrifice their evenings waiting in a train station?

"To add insult to injury, we were only informed of these changes by TransPennine at the last minute.

"Everyone can now see the results of the government’s chaotic approach to rail services, so we have taken matters into our own hands and requested a meeting with the operator to thrash out a solution. We need an accountable and simpler rail system."