PM Boris 'backs' Harrogate rail improvements

Amid the controversy of confirmation his commitment to new £88 billion high-speed rail links from London to the north, Boris Johnson also highlighted “installing new signalling at Harrogate, one of North Yorkshire’s busiest stations.”

The assumption is the PM was referring to Network Rail's plans for a new facing crossover at Harrogate rail station which would also necessitate additional signalling on the Leeds to Harrogate line and fitting of ground shunting signals on the Harrogate to Leeds line somewhere under Waitrose, connected to the signal box at Harrogate.

It may sound a deadly dull technical matter but the expected changes by Network Rail would potentially benefit Harrogate passengers both in terms of the state-of-the-art new Azuma trains introduced recently to boost the town’s direct links to London - as well as improving punctuality to an extent on the much-criticised Harrogate-Leeds service.

Brian Dunsby OBE of Harrogate Line Supporters Group said he welcomed the PM’s statement about installing new signalling at Harrogate.

Mr Dunsby said: "I would presume that this is part of the existing scheme to enable the new LNER AZUMA trains from London to switch more directly from arriving on Platform 1 to departing from Platform 3 to return to London.

"With a London Train now arriving every two hours, usually with nine coaches, the recently refurbished siding near ASDA is not quite long enough to switch tracks without obstructing the local services.

"Currently the AZUMA crosses from platform 1 on the down line over to the up line and has to go at least to the advanced starting signal beneath the York Place bridge.

Then the driver has to make his way to the other end of the train before being cleared to proceed in the wrong direction on the up line and into the new siding.

"I assume Network Rail's plan is to provide a direct cross over at the northern end of platform 1 to enable direct access to the up line and thence into the siding."

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But local railway expert and campaigner Dr Adrian Morgan, who founded the Ripon Railway Reinstatement Association in 1987, says, ultimately, Network Rail needs to do more changes to make the Harrogate line work efficiently for passengers.

And he is also calling for Network Rail to consider restoring a line to Ripon as part of overall infrastructure changes.

Dr Morgan said:“Harrogate has seen an explosion of terminating services in 2019 from Leeds with all of them having to wait upwards of 16 minutes before returning back to Leeds. The London services have to wait over an hour before returning.

"With only two platforms available for all services, late running of any service causes a domino effect delaying other services.”

He warned that, despite the improvements, any late running of trains would still have a knock-on effect on other rail services in Harrogate.

He said: "A new crossover will not help if the London arrivals are late as they will still delay other trains departing from platform 3 to Leeds every 20 minutes to-day and every 15 minutes from December 2020."

The Harrogate Advertiser contacted the Department of Transport for full clarification on Harrogate rail improvements but has not yet received a response.

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