Northern Rail have confirmed their new train timetable, which will come into force from Sunday 11th December 2022.
The announcement comes following Robert Largan MP’s long-running campaign for the restoration of the full local train timetable, following the prolonged reduction of services due to Covid.
Earlier this year, the High Peak MP presented a petition to Parliament signed by over 2,000 local rail users, calling on Northern to ‘Bring back our trains’.
Mr Largan has welcomed much of the new timetable, which includes a number of important improvements from the reduced Covid timetable.
Commuters from Buxton, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Whaley Bridge, Furness Vale and New Mills Newtown will be celebrating the return to two trains an hour during peak hours in the morning and evenings on the Buxton-Manchester line, with a new 08:16 service from Buxton. This will be on top of trains at 06:43, 07:16, 07:45 and 08:45.
New Mills Central passengers are the biggest winners with the restoration of two trains per hour to Manchester throughout the day and three trains per hour in the morning peak rush, with new services at 07:34 and 07:46.
There will also be services to Manchester at 06:28, 06:55, 08:01, 08:20 and 08:48. New Mills central passengers will also gain an additional peak train towards Sheffield.
These benefits for New Mills come on top of the restored service at New Mills Newtown, meaning that during the morning rush, New Mills passengers have 5 trains an hour heading into Manchester.
Additional services will be restored on the Glossop-Manchester line, with the return of the 08:14 train from Hadfield and the 08:19 from Glossop. The Glossop line will benefit from a proper return to the half-hourly service throughout the day.
However, due to Christmas engineering works, the new timetable won’t come into effect on the Glossop line until 3 January.
On top of the reduced train timetable, commuter misery has been made worse by repeated train cancellations, partly as a result of industrial disputes. Northern Rail have recently reached agreement with ASLEF, which is expected to lead to fewer cancellations and a more reliable service from November.
This progress comes on top of the £137million upgrade to the Hope Valley (Manchester-Sheffield) line, which is currently under construction.
Robert Largan, MP for High Peak, commented:
“I am really pleased that we’ve managed to secure the vital restoration of train services after many months of campaigning. I want to thank everyone who has supported my campaign and the 2,000 local people who signed my petition to ‘Bring back our trains’.
“These extra train services will make a big difference. But we also need to make sure the services are reliable. Repeated last minute cancellations have left lots of passengers stranded.
“I also welcome the new agreement between Northern Rail and ASLEF, which will hopefully lead to fewer cancellations and a more reliable service in future.
“I will be carefully monitoring the new timetable and continue to fight to reduce commuter misery.”
