Calder Valley sees latest launch of Northern’s new trains

From Monday 21 October brand new trains will start to operate between Leeds and Chester via the Calder Valley.

And the launch was marked with the naming of one of the new trains for the route – Calder Champion.

David Brown, Northern’s Managing Director said: “The Northern network is busier than it has been for a generation – more than 100 million customer journeys will be made on Northern services in 2019 – and the introduction of new trains is at the heart of our transformation for customers.

“We are delighted therefore that customers travelling along the Calder Valley and between Chester and Leeds (via Manchester and Bradford) will now be served by brand new trains.

“These fantastic trains are a true step-change in travelling experience and we are extremely proud to be delivering a £500m investment.

“Next week we will have 29 brand new trains carrying customers, with more to come throughout 2019 and into 2020.

Councillor Kim Groves of WYCA, who joined Northern at the launch event, said: “Today's arrival of new trains on the Calder Valley will have a significant impact for passengers travelling across West Yorkshire.

“There’s a massive growth in terms of rail travel and we’re anticipating there will be even more demand going forward.

“I know this will speed up journey times and think the trains themselves – people being able to sit down, use the Wi-Fi, having a comfortable journey – feel really luxurious. They will be very much welcome and I hope we get more new trains across West Yorkshire.”

The new trains feature free Wi-Fi, air-conditioning, at-seat power and customer information/media screens with real-time information. They are also more spacious for customers and are fully accessible with spaces for wheel chairs and cycles.

Northern’s new trains are part of the largest modernisation programme in a generation that is transforming travel in the north of England. It is currently fully refurbishing its existing fleet of 243 trains, improving its stations and has introduced more than 2,000 extra services per week since 2016.