Huddersfield railway station

Huddersfield
Huddersfield railway station in St. Georges Square
Location
Place	Huddersfield
Local authority	Kirklees
Coordinates	53°38′53″N 1°47′06″W / 53.648°N 1.785°W / 53.648; -1.785Coordinates: 53°38′53″N 1°47′06″W / 53.648°N 1.785°W / 53.648; -1.785
Grid reference	SE143168
Operations
Station code	HUD
Managed by	TransPennine Express
Number of platforms	6
DfT category	B
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2012/13	4.657 million
2013/14	4.816 million
2014/15	4.994 million
2015/16	5.042 million
2016/17	5.093 million
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE	West Yorkshire (Metro)
Zone	5
History
Original company	London and North Western Railway
Pre-grouping	London and North Western Railway/Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway joint
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
3 August 1847	Station opened[1]
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Huddersfield from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Huddersfield railway station serves the town of Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, England.

The station is managed by TransPennine Express, which provides trains between Manchester and Liverpool in the North West and Newcastle and Middlesbrough in the North East and also to York, Scarborough and Hull via Leeds. It is also served by local Northern trains on the Huddersfield, Penistone and Caldervale lines, which between them provide service to Leeds, Wakefield Westgate, Manchester Victoria, Sheffield, Brighouse, Halifax and Bradford Interchange.

Huddersfield station is the second busiest station in West Yorkshire with Leeds being the first.

The station building

Huddersfield railway station by night

Designed by the architect James Pigott Pritchett and built by the firm of Joseph Kaye in 1846–50^[2][3] using the neo-classical style, the station is well known in architectural circles for its classical-style facade, with a portico of the Corinthian order, consisting of six columns in width and two in depth, which dominates St George's Square. It faces out towards Lion Buildings. It is a grade I listed building. The station frontage was described by John Betjeman as the most splendid in England and by Sir Nikolaus Pevsner as 'one of the best early railway stations in England'. Similarly, Simon Jenkins reported it to be one of the best 100 stations in Britain.^[4]

Two pubs are within the station frontage, to each side of the main entrance: The Head Of Steam and The King's Head (previously known as The Station Tavern).^[5] Both facilities are accessible from Platform 1. At the building's entrance, the booking office is to the left and to the right are the train timetables and a newsagent. Platforms 4 to 8 are located via a lift or subway, accessed from Platform 1. The public conveniences are located through this subway at the top of the steps to Platforms 4–8. The platforms are all covered by a large canopy. To the rear of the station are some carriage sidings.

The station is staffed 24 hours a day, with booking office open from 05:45 to 20:00 Mondays to Saturdays and 07:45 to 20:00 on Sundays. There are also 4 self-service ticket machines available in the ticket hall for use when the booking office is closed or for collecting pre-paid tickets. Automated train announcements, customer help points and digital display screens provide train running information on all platforms. In addition to the aforementioned pubs, the station has a waiting room and buffet on platform 4 and a coffee kiosk on platform 1.^[6]

Location

The station is situated on St George's Square, which was refurbished in 2009. The square has been made a pedestrian zone. No car parking is available in front of the station entrance, but it is nearby on Brook Street.

The station is situated a short distance from Huddersfield bus station, so interchange facilities are possible but limited. The Huddersfield FreeCityBus connects the railway station with the bus station, as well as the University of Huddersfield and other areas of the town centre.

Diagram of Huddersfield railway station

Huddersfield railway station in 1980

Huddersfield station platforms in 1987

Huddersfield railway station from Platform 2

There are six platforms:

• Platform 1 — Express services to Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester Airport and Liverpool (via Manchester Victoria).
• Platform 2 — Terminus platform for Penistone Line services to/from Sheffield.
• Platform 4 — Stopping services to Leeds (4a) and Manchester Piccadilly (4b). (One evening train from Hull terminates at Platform 4a.)
• Platforms 5 and 6 — Terminus platforms for local services to/from Leeds (via Brighouse, Halifax and Bradford) and Wakefield Kirkgate.
• Platform 8 — Express services to Leeds, Hull, York, Scarborough, Middlesbrough and Newcastle.

Development

In 2010, Network Rail and First TransPennine Express completed a series of improvements to the station in order to provide better access for passengers. This consisted of two new lifts, and a new staircase to the subway on Platform 1. The new staircase replaced the existing staircase inside the booking hall. As well as this each platform received new information screens.^[7]

In early 2011, further improvement works were carried out to the concourse and waiting area. This phase of improvements was funded by the Railway Heritage Trust, Metro, Kirklees council and the National Station’s Improvement Programme. The main purpose of this was to reduce bottlenecks at peak times as well as general crowding. The redundant stable block on Platform 1 was also turned into a staff training centre and toilets.^[8]

In May 2013, automatic ticket barriers were installed at the station.^[9]

Work is currently underway on Network Rail's Northern Hub project which will see electrification of the Huddersfield Line by 2022, allowing many of the services through the station to switch to newer, faster electric rolling stock. As part of this project the panel signal box on platform 4 is to be decommissioned, with its control area passing to the York Rail Operating Centre.^[10] The first portion of this work took place in early August 2017, with two further weekend closures planned for late October and January 2018.

Services

During Monday to Friday daytimes, TransPennine Express now operate services to Newcastle (2tph, journey time approx. 2 hours 10 mins), Hull (hourly, approx. 1 hour 25 mins), Scarborough (hourly, approx. 1 hour 45 mins), and Middlesbrough (hourly, approx. 2 hours 20 mins), all of which call at Leeds (approx. 20 mins). A sixth service terminates at Leeds, which creates a service frequency of roughly every 10 minutes. Four of these are expresses (either non-stop or calling at Dewsbury only), one calls at Dewsbury and Batley and the other serves most local stops to Leeds.

Westbound there are two trains per hour to Manchester Piccadilly (approx. 35 mins); two to Manchester Airport (via Manchester Victoria) and another two continue to Liverpool Lime Street (approx. 37 mins from Manchester Victoria) via Newton-le-Willows).^[11] Liverpool services all now travel via the Chat Moss line - services via Warrington Central ceased from 20 May 2018.

Northern operates hourly stopping services to Sheffield,^[12], Wakefield Kirkgate, Leeds via Bradford Interchange and a limited weekday peak service to Manchester Victoria.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Manchester Victoria		TransPennine Express North TransPennine (Liverpool - Newcastle/Scarborough, Manchester-Middlesbrough)		Dewsbury or Leeds
Slaithwaite		TransPennine Express North TransPennine (Manchester - Hull)		Dewsbury
Marsden		TransPennine Express North TransPennine (Manchester - Leeds)		Deighton
Terminus		Northern Calder Valley line		Brighouse
Slaithwaite		Northern Huddersfield line		Terminus
Terminus		Northern Huddersfield Line (Leeds and Wakefield services)		Deighton
Lockwood		Northern Penistone Line		Terminus
Disused railways
Longwood and Milnsbridge		L&YR		Terminus

Kirklees South Lines

To Heckmondwike To Dewsbury and Wakefield To Calderdale Cooper Bridge Bradley Deighton (1982– ) Deighton (1871–1930) Kirkheaton Newtown goods Huddersfield Fenay Bridge and Lepton Longwood and Milnsbridge Lockwood Golcar Kirkburton Netherton Berry Brow Slaithwaite Healey House Meltham Honley Marsden Brockholes To Saddleworth Thongsbridge Stocksmoor Holmfirth Shepley Denby Dale Shelley To Penistone Skelmanthorpe Cuckoos Nest Clayton West

Future services

London North Eastern Railway plan to operate services from London King's Cross via Leeds, beginning in 2019.^[13]

Steam trains

In keeping with the on-site Head of Steam railway pub, several steam trains still pass through Huddersfield station, including the Cotton Mill Express and the Scarborough Flyer.^[14]

On the disused side of Platform 2, an old carriage is bolted to the ground. Set in its window is a plaque commemorating 100 years of Steamtrain Hoorn Medemblik, a Dutch steam train.

Station cats

Felix by the door of the station offices on Platform 1

The first station cat, Felix, joined the staff as a nine-week-old kitten in 2011.^[15] Since then she has patrolled the station to keep it free from rodents, and even has her own cat-flap to bypass the ticket barriers.^[16] In 2016, Felix was promoted to Senior Pest Controller and has her own hi-vis jacket and name badge.^[17] In 2016, local artist Rob Martin painted a portrait of Felix which now hangs in the station.^[18]

The second station cat, Bolt, joined the staff in September 2018 as a six week old kitten^[19]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Huddersfield railway station.

• "St George's Square down the Years", The Examiner, including images of Huddersfield railway station, 11 September 2012
• Historic England. "Details from image database (407013)". Images of England.