Longer trains to ease overcrowding

PASSENGERS at Greenfield station are to benefit from extra carriages to help ease overcrowding.

Northern Rail is introducing more carriages in December on some of its busiest services in and around Manchester.

Two morning services from Huddersfield to Manchester, which stop at Greenfield and Mossley, will have an extra carriage each providing 52 extra seats in total.

On four return services in the afternoon, from Manchester to Huddersfield, there will be 161 extra seats in total. Overall Saddleworth commuters will benefit from 213 extra seats a day.

They are part of 22 carriages that the Department for Transport (DfT) has announced will be joining Northern’s fleet.

There have been numerous complaints about the overcrowded trains to Manchester being “sardine specials.”

Northern Rail stresses that with a lack of surplus trains across the industry, it is recognised that these additional carriages will not eradicate overcrowding completely but they will deliver significantly improved journeys for many passengers.

Managing director Ian Bevan said: “We are delighted that we will be able to provide much needed additional capacity for our passengers from December.

“These carriages will deliver an extra 402,000 seats on peak-time services in and around Manchester every year.

“Overcrowding has been one of the biggest challenges we have faced and one of the biggest causes of complaint for passengers.

It is the latest announcement under the DfT’s rolling stock programme, which has secured a total of 60 additional carriages for Northern, 10 of which are already in service with the remaining 50 to be introduced in December.

In total the 60 carriages will provide an additional 2.2 million additional seats on peak-time services.

To help cope with the maintenance requirements of an enhanced fleet Northern is working with Network Rail to reopen Allerton depot on Merseyside, creating additional jobs within its engineering division.