'Faster and larger' trains are still expected from Northern for Harrogate commuters

Northern announced that the first of its £500 million ‘state-of-the-art’ trains would replace outdated pacers from December this year.

However while it has confirmed Yorkshire will be serviced by the trains, capable of reaching 100mph, the Leeds to York line will not be among them.

Brian Dunsby, Harrogate Chamber of Commerce transport spokesperson says this was no surprise following talks with the company. Instead he said to expect refurbished trains, possibly from Scot Rail.

He said: “We should be getting the 170 Turbostars and refurbished 158 Sprinters replacing the remaining pacers on the line.

“These newer trains are designed for service on longer routes with no connect service. These trains we would be getting through cascading are larger and much faster.

“To hear that the line is not receiving this new stock, and that this might not change, would not be surprising. We were instead anticipating these other trains.

“This is a much better quality rail stock than the old pacers and give more frequent service for the line which Harrogate needs.”

The company, however, was unable to confirm to the Advertiser details of the Leeds to York Line train changes. This included the types of trains and when they could be introduced to the area.

A spokesman for Northern said: “We are still working to determine all the routes on which our new trains will run.

They added:“Of course, we continue to refurbish our existing fleet of trains. “Those customers who do not benefit from a new train, will be able to travel on a unit which has been refurbished to ‘as new’ standards.”

The first new trains are set to come off of the production line in Zaragoza, Spain, and will be phased into the Northern network.

Chester to Leeds and the North West to Manchester Airport lines will see the first introductions of the new trains.