The Scenic Route From Leeds To Manchester
As I had plenty of time to travel across the Pennines to get from Leeds to Manchester Victoria, I took the scenic route on the Calder Valley Line.
The line is slower than a direct train to Piccadilly, taking probably twenty minutes longer, but I sat in a comfortable Class 156 train across the table from several friendly;y passengers, watching the countryside go by.
By coincidence today this article on Modern Railways web site, entitled Calder Valley Tops Wires Wishlist was published.
It says that full electrification of the line is the top priority after the current electrification is completed.
After all, they’ve got to create some high-quality electric railways on which to run all those shiny refurbished Class 319 trains. Thirty years old they may be, but they have the heart and soul of someone at least ten years younger. And there are a battalion of eight-six of the trains, should the powers-that-be send them all to the North to dispatch a lot of Pacers to menial duties or the scrapyard.
The electrification will mean that four-car electric trains will be able to run from Leeds via Halifax, Hebden Bridge and the Todmorden Curve all the way to Manchester Victoria, Liverpool and Blackpool.
The Anonymous Widower 
[…] the line scored highest of all lines considered in the report. It is very much a scenic line and I recently took it from Leeds to Manchester, as it wound its way over the Pennines and through towns, like Bradford, Halifax, Hebden Bridge and […]
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[…] I took this picture of my Samsung S5 just before I left to get the connecting train to Leeds, before my scenic trip to Manchester Victoria. […]
Pingback by Train Departure Information On The Go! « The Anonymous Widower | March 10, 2015 |
[…] The train was busy and I was unable to get any decent pictures, but my 12:08 departure dropped me on time in Burnley Manchester Road station at 13:11. I wrote about the scenic qualities of the route before in The Scenic Route From Leeds To Manchester. […]
Pingback by From Leeds To Burnley Manchester Road « The Anonymous Widower | January 5, 2016 |