Northern’s new timetable includes early Harrogate to Leeds trains

Rail operator Northern has published a new timetable that confirms the 6.07am and 6.33am services from Harrogate to Leeds will return from December.

Northern controversially axed the services earlier this year, blaming a lack of resources and the need to recruit and train more drivers.

It provoked a backlash from business travellers who relied on the services to get to London before 9am.

The operator had always promised that the services would return in December, which has now been confirmed with publication of the timetable.

Brian Dunsby, of the Harrogate Line Supporters Group, welcomed the announcement. He said:

He said:

“It is very encouraging that Northern has kept their promise to reinstate all the lost services that were cut out in May 2022, although they have not been able to bring any forward to September 2022 due to the ongoing industrial action.”

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No trains will run through Harrogate and Knaresborough tomorrow or Saturday due to a day of national strike action.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport workers’ union and Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association are striking over pay and conditions.

Last month, members of the RMT union organised a picket line outside Harrogate train station as part of the ongoing dispute.

Harrogate rail campaigner ‘optimistic’ early morning train could be reinstated

Rail campaigner Brian Dunsby has said he is “optimistic” that the 6.07am Harrogate train to Leeds could be reinstated sooner than expected.

Mr Dunsby, of the Harrogate Line Supporters Group, met officials from rail operator Northern last week.

The cuts, which came into force on May 15 and have also affected services across Yorkshire, led to widespread disappointment from commuters.

The early service from Harrogate was popular with business travellers as a way to get not only to Leeds but also to London King’s Cross before 9am.

However, Northern has maintained the cuts are necessary.

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Mr Dunsby and the group’s chairman, Andrew Whitworth, met with senior Northern officials Tony Baxter and Pete Myers to discuss the changes to the timetable.

Following the meeting, Mr Dunsby said:

“I am optimistic that the 6.07am early morning service from Harrogate to Leeds will be reinstated as soon as the threatened industrial action has been settled.

“Failing that happening in quarter three then I am confident that December 2022 will see the reinstatement of the original December 2021 timetable if all else is going to plan.”

Members of the RMT union, which includes Northern employees, voted to strike over pay last week with industrial action expected to take place this month.

Tony Baxter, regional director at Northern, said previously:

“The new timetables are designed to deliver high levels of reliability.

“We’ve made decisions about our timetables based on the levels of resource we have available.

“We’ve then prioritised the routes with the highest customer demand, and which support the region’s economic growth.”

Pleas to reinstate cancelled Harrogate to Leeds rail service ‘ignored’

Rail campaigner Brian Dunsby has said his pleas to reinstate the cancelled 6.07am train from Harrogate to Leeds have been ignored by publicly-owned rail operator Northern.

The Stray Ferret reported last month that the weekday service — the first of the day — will be axed from May 15. Some evening services will also be cut.

Mr Dunsby, of Harrogate Line Supporters Group, branded the move ‘disgraceful’ and called for a rethink. He said the service is vital for commuters and voiced his concern that losing it will damage Harrogate’s business community.

Since the decision, he said he’s been lobbying Northern as well as Transport for the North and local Conservative MP Andrew Jones, but he’s been left disappointed.

He said:

“There’s been no progress at all. It’s quite unjustifiable. We can’t understand why they are cancelling them. It’s very unsatisfactory.”

Northern blamed lower passenger numbers, issues with rolling stock and staffing problems for the cuts, which has seen a raft of services across Yorkshire withdrawn.

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Northern will put on a bus to replace the lost early train service from Harrogate to Leeds, but it could be December at the earliest until Northern will look at reintroducing the rail service. Mr Dunsby said this was “not good enough”.

He added:

“That’s eight months away. People need this train for business trips.”

Tony Baxter, regional director at Northern, said:

“Customers are at the heart of everything we do, and the new timetables are designed to deliver high levels of reliability.

“We’ve made decisions about our timetables based on the levels of resource we have available and prioritising the routes with the highest customer demand, and which support the region’s economic growth.”

Northern to continue with Harrogate train cuts despite pressure from MP

Northern will press ahead with plans to cancel the 6.07am train service from Harrogate to Leeds, as well as some other services, despite lobbying from Harrogate and Knaresborough’s Conservative MP Andrew Jones.

The Stray Ferret reported this month that the 6.07am service — the first of the day — will be axed from May 15. Some evening services will also be cut.

The early service was popular with business travellers as a way to get to London King’s Cross before 9am.

The decision to cut the service was branded as “disgraceful” by Brian Dunsby, of Harrogate Line Supporters Group.

Urging a rethink

Last week, Andrew Jones MP wrote to the chairman of Northern, Robin Gisby, urging him to “rethink” reductions to the service between Harrogate and Leeds.

Mr Jones wrote that train services in Harrogate had got better over the past decade but cuts could risk losing these “hard-won improvements”.

However, a Northern spokesperson said today that the operator, which is now owned by the UK government, confirmed the cuts will still take place from May 15.

They said the cuts were primarily due to driver shortages and not a reduction in passengers since the pandemic.

However, the spokesperson added Northern will look to reinstate some services during the rest of 2022.

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The spokesperson said:

“We recognise that some of our customers are disappointed with the upcoming changes to their service. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused.”

“Along with the rest of the industry, some amendments to the timetable will be made from 15 May 2022.

“For the remainder of the year, services will be reinstated where possible with the intention of a larger uplift in December 22.

“These reinstatements will take us more in line with December 2021 service levels although any changes are dependent on several factors. We will share the final plans when we can.”

Brian Dunsby, of Harrogate Line Supporters Group said news that the 6.07am cut would remain was “not good enough”.

He added:

“I was expecting them to keep that one. I’m very disappointed.”

Early morning train from Harrogate to Leeds cancelled

Northern is to cancel the 6.07am train service from Harrogate to Leeds due to declining passenger numbers since the pandemic began.

The 6.07am, which is the first service of the day, arrives at Leeds Station at 6.44am. It is also used by business travellers to get to London King’s Cross before 9am.

The change will come into effect from May 15.

A Northern/LNER service, which goes to London via York and leaves Harrogate at 6.41am and arrives at King’s Cross at 9.36am, will remain on the timetable.

There is a direct LNER train from Harrogate to London at 7.36am but it doesn’t arrive in the capital until 10.32am.

LNER has delayed plans to introduce an earlier direct service that leaves Harrogate at 6.35am due to rolling stock issues.

‘We need it’

With the 6.07am service withdrawn, it means the earliest Harrogate commuters will be able to get into Leeds by train from Monday to Friday will be the 6.56 train, which arrives at 7.28am.

Brian Dunsby, of Harrogate Line Supporters Group, said passenger numbers were back to around 80% of pre-pandemic levels and the early service was needed by commuters.

He called the move by Northern ‘disgraceful’ and urged the state-owned operator to reconsider.

He said:

“The service is particularly important for anyone going down to London for a 9am start.

“They could cancel the 6.56am or the 7.14am instead. That 6.07 is very important. It’s the first train of the day and we need it.”

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A spokesperson for Northern said:

“We fully understand the concerns of those using our trains in West Yorkshire and we are doing all we can to provide the best possible service for our customers who are very much at the heart of everything we do.”

“We’re seeing fewer commuters travelling each day, and people travelling at different times of the week and for different reasons. We’ve made decisions about our timetables based on the levels of resource we have available and prioritising the routes with the highest customer demand, and which support the region’s economic growth.

“The timetables currently in place will broadly continue with some amendments from May 2022 and into the summer.”

Harrogate council spent £5,000 on King’s Cross snow globe

Harrogate Borough Council paid £5,220 to install a Christmas snow globe at London’s King’s Cross station for two days, the Stray Ferret has learned.

The giant inflatable globe was put on the passenger concourse at King’s Cross in November to promote Harrogate’s Christmas Fayre and entice people towards a £140 LNER train service from the capital to Harrogate to sample the festivities.

The snow globe also offered people the chance to have selfies taken inside a winter wonderland scene.

The idea came from the council’s tourism organisation, Visit Harrogate, which partnered with LNER for the rail offer. The first-class service included special Harrogate goodie bags.

Through a freedom of information request, the Stray Ferret discovered Visit Harrogate spent £5,220 to hire the globe for two 12-hour days at King’s Cross. The price included VAT and the wages of two people who operated the globe.

The Stray Ferret also asked Harrogate Borough Council how many tickets to Harrogate were sold for the Christmas rail offer but the council said it did not know. LNER declined to disclose the information.

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Harrogate Christmas Fayre took place from December 2 to December 12 in the town centre. It replaced the previous Harrogate Christmas Market after organisers were not given a licence to run the event by the council.

The Stray Ferret revealed last month that Visit Harrogate paid a social media influencer from Bristol £700 to promote the fayre in a blog, which only received two likes on Facebook, including one from the council itself.

Christmas festivities across the country were dampened by the Omicron wave that hit the UK in the days leading up to Christmas.

‘Record traffic’

A spokesperson for Destination Harrogate, which includes Visit Harrogate, said:

“Visit Harrogate’s partnership with LNER saw the eye-catching snow globe travel to the capital to take a prime position in one of London’s busiest train stations, Kings Cross. The station which sees hundreds of thousands of commuters each day, allowed for maximum exposure of Harrogate district while promoting the direct LNER line from London to Harrogate.

“Located in the centre of the concourse and visible from all the main approaches, the giant snow globe became a key meeting point at the station on a Friday and Saturday – two busy days for a train station in the capital – with hundreds of people pulling out their phones to take photographs, sharing them on social media and further extend the reach of the campaign.

“During this period, the Visit Harrogate website received record levels of traffic, demonstrating the success of not only this activity, but also the wider Destination Christmas campaign.

“The purpose of all of our campaigns is to support our local visitor economy which makes up around 15% of the economy in the Harrogate district and provides jobs for around 8,000 people. For a visitor economy to continue to thrive and grow, it requires a collaborative approach and ambitious and exciting campaigns, such as this.”

King’s Cross weekend closure causes disruption for Harrogate trains

No trains will run to or from London King’s Cross today, tomorrow or Sunday April 25 due to upgrade works.

If you have any trains booked for the weekend it may be best to check before leaving the house. The weekend upgrade to the signalling system is expected to cause changes or cancellations to a number of trains.

For today, any LNER trains to and from the north of England and Scotland will now start and end at Peterborough or Stevenage, where passengers can go on to the Thameslink train service or St Pancras.

Any Hull trains have been cancelled today.

Tomorrow and Sunday changes have been made so any LNER trains to and from the North of England and Scotland will start and end at Peterborough or St Neots.

A replacement bus service is in place between St Neots ad Bedford to get to the Thameslink train services and St Pancras.

Any Grand Central and Hull trains will not run.

Railway company Network Rail is asking passengers to check with their train operator before they travel.

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