Northern’s longer train carriages to be delayed until 2021
The introduction of Northern’s six-carriage services arriving and departing Leeds train station has been delayed by two years but there is confusion as when Northern was made aware of this change.
The new trains were due to be introduced at the end of this year, but will now not begin until late 2021 because longer platforms at Leeds will not be ready in time. However, Northern still plans to start phasing in a £500m fleet of new short trains from spring.
The longer services were planned for peak times from December, when there is a planned timetable change.
It will not be possible to bring the longer services in sooner because several platforms at Leeds station will not be lengthened in time to accommodate the longer trains. The work, which is underway at present, is part of a £160m upgrade to the station, carried out by Network Rail, which also includes the creation of a new platform ‘0’.
According to the BBC, Network Rail says it committed to the project back in 2014 and that initial estimates said the project would be finished by the end of this year, in time to accommodate Northern’s long trains.
However in 2017, Network Rail decided that the redevelopment of Leeds and the longer platforms could not be finished until the end of 2021.
What is now in dispute is when Northern knew that Leeds would not be able to accommodate its six carriage services for an additional two years.
The Department for Transport (DfT) has said that Northern was told in September 2017 and that details were included in a Network Rail report published online.
