Wakefield Westgate Station – 18th September 2025
To get to Knottingley and the consultation about Ferrybridge hydrogen-fired power station, I had to change trains at Wakefield Westgate station.
Note.
- It is an impressive station.
- It has been rebuilt since the turn of the century.
- It is fully step-free.
- Entrance is level from the square outside the station to the Southbound platform.
- There are toilets on the Southbound platform.
- There are six trains per hour (tph) between Wakefield Westgate and Leeds.
Certainty, in the time I was changing trains and waiting for my train to Knottingley, there were a lot of trains going to and from Leeds.
The timetables are changing on December 14, 2025 and the October 2025 Edition of Modern Railways gives this summary for Wakefield.
On Mondays-Saturdays, the CrossCountry train calling at Westgate at 18:17 will no longer stop at Wakefield. Northern will introduce an additional hourly fast train seven days a week between Leeds and Sheffield, and on Saturdays there will be extra later last trains between Sheffield and Westgate via Rotherham and Sheffield and Kirkgate via Barnsley.
With the development of the Leeds Metro, I can see more services being added on the route between Doncaster and Bradford via Wakefield Westgate and Leeds.
- Bradford is getting a new through station.
- From December 14, 2025, Sunday services to Bradford Forster Square will be increased for two to six each way per day.
- It also looks like from December 14, 2025, the new Northern service between Leeds and Sheffield via Wakefield Westgate, will form a two trains per hour with the CrossCountry service.
It certainly looks like the train companies have been co-operating to create a high-class Trans-West Yorkshire service.
Could East Midlands Railway Run A St. Pancras And Leeds Service?
East Midlands Railway’s new Class 810 trains have been designed, so that a pair will fit into one platform at St. Pancras.
If we assume one platform at St. Pancras is used for the Corby and Luton Airport Express services, that leaves three platforms for pairs of Class 810 trains to run expresses to the East Midlands.
This could be as many as twelve pairs of five-car trains per hour.
Where wioll they all terminate in the North?
Leeds station must be the obvious new destination.
- Leeds has the largest population and is the largest commercial and finance centre in Yorkshire and the North-East.
- Leeds would have gained three trains per hour (tph) from London, two tph from Birmingham and four tph from the East Midlands Hub at Nottinham.
- Leeds is getting a brand new metro.
- Leeds is a fully-electrified station, so it could charge the trains before they return to Sheffield, Leicester, Wigston junction and St. Pancras.
- Leeds and Wigston junction is 107.8 miles, which should be within the range of a battery-electric Class 810 train. If it is too far, an extended stop could be taken at Sheffield to top up the batteries.
- Note that Stadler hold the Guinness World Record for the greatest distance covered on one charge at 139 miles. Hitachi Rail, who are partnered with JCB’s battery-maker in Sunderland, should be able to smash that.
The Rail Minister; Lord Peter Hendy went to Leeds University.
Which Route Would The Trains Take Between Sheffield And Leeds?
Consider.
- The fastest trains between Sheffield and Leeds, go via Meadowhall, Barnsley and Wakefield Kirkgate stations.
- Trains take about an hour.
- The current frequency is two tph.
- The distance is 41.1 miles with no electrification.
A frequency of two additional tph between St. Pancras and Leeds would give the following.
- A nice round four tph between Yorkshire’s two most important cities.
- Four fast tph between Meadowhall, Barnsley and Wakefield Kirkgate stations, and Leeds and Sheffield.
- Two direct trains between Meadowhall, Barnsley and Wakefield Kirkgate, and Chesterfield, Derby, Long Eaton, East Midlands Parkway, Loughborough, Leicester and St. Pancras.
It would be complimentary to any Leeds Metro.
Could East Midlands Railways Also Serve Huddersfield?
Consider.
- Huddersfield is 36.4 miles further than Sheffield on the Penistone Line, which is not electrified.
- Wigston junctionand Huddersfield station is 105.3 miles.
- Huddersfield is a Grade I Listed station with two pubs in the middle of the town.
- Huddersfield station is being fully-electrified in connection with the TransPennine Upgrade.
- All trains from Sheffield, that use the Penistone Line terminate in Platform 2 at Huddersfield station.
This OpenRailwayMap shows the position of Platform 2 in the station.
Note.
- The red-and-black dotted tracks are being electrified.
- The black tracks are not going to be electrified.
- Platform 2 is marked 2 in the top-right corner of the map.
- Platform 2 looks to be about 90 metres long.
- Five-car Class 810 trains are 120 metres long.
- From the map, it looks like the platform could be lengthened by the required thirty metres.
I suspect that some form of charger can be squeezed into the available space. After all, you don’t often get the chance to put charging into one of the most grand stations in Europe. Power supply would not be a problem, because of the electrification.
A frequency of twotph between St. Pancras and Huddersfield would give the following.
- Two fast tph between Meadowhall, and Barnsley, and Huddersfield and Sheffield.
- Two extra direct trains between Meadowhall and Barnsley, and Chesterfield, Derby, Long Eaton, East Midlands Parkway, Loughborough, Leicester and St. Pancras.
It would connect many stations to the TransPennine Route at Huddersfield station.
What Could The Sheffield and St. Pancras Look Like?
Consider that currently.
- There are two tph.
- Trains stop at Leicester, Loughborough (1tph), East Midlands Parkway (1tph), Long Eaton (1tph), Derby and Chesterfield.
- Trains are five- or seven-cars.
The simplest solution would probably be.
- A pair of five-car trains run all services.
- Trains split and join at Sheffield with one train going to Leeds and one going to Huddersfield.
I estimate that the Class 810 trains will offer about thirty more seats in every hour.
A Bespoke Tram-Train For The UK
Trams, tram-trains, trains and anything that runs on rails is generally very expensive.
Does this partly explain, why the UK has relatively few urban tramways and railways?
In Stadler Presents Mock-Up Of Tram-Trains For German And Austrian Operators, I discussed how five German and Austrian operators had got together to create a common tram-train design, that would be suitable for all the operators.
The mayor of one of the cities involved in the joint order, said savings of the order of a million euros per vehicle may have resulted from the common design.
I would also feel that savings in operational costs, design of infrastructure, spares inventory and other costs would also result.
Identical tram-trains would make through running between networks easier.
Where Could Tram-Trains Be Used In The UK?
Consider.
- Currently, tram-trains are running in Sheffield and a battery-electric version of the same Stadler Citylink tram-train will soon be running in Cardiff.
- Cardiff, is developing a Cardiff Crossrail on tram-train principles across the city.
- Sheffield have said that they will be replacing their trams and I believe they could use developments of their excellent Stadler tram-trains.
- Sheffield is likely to extend their tram system and might include tram-trains to Doncaster.
- Cities that have talked about adding tram-trains to their tram networks include Birmingham, Blackpool, Manchester and Nottingham.
- Leeds is developing a metro system, which could be developed using tram-train principles.
- Glasgow has talked about a tram-train to Glasgow Airport for some time.
- The East-West Rail Link is proposing a tram-train link between Ipswich and Felixstowe to allow more freight trains into the Port of Felixstowe.
There could be quite a number of tram-trains being used in the UK, especially if they are used as at Felixstowe, to increase freight capacity into ports.
These are a few of my thoughts.
Battery-Electric Tram-Trains
I would envisage, that a lot of the new tram-trains would operate using batteries. Especially, as battery-electric trains are showing quite long ranges of upwards of thirty miles.
Already trams in Birmingham and trains on Merseyside, are operating using batteries and it avoids the expense of putting up catenary, if enough exists to charge the trams.
Replacement of Diesel Multiple Units By Battery-Electric Tram-Trains
There are some branch lines, where diesel multiple units run off a branch of an electrified main line.These services could be decarbonised by changing the rolling stock.
This OpenRailwayMap shows the St. I’ves Bay Line in Cornwall.
Note.
- The St. Ives Bay Line is shown in yellow.
- The Southern terminal is St. Erth station, where it connects to the Cornish Main Line, which is shown in orange.
- The Northern terminal is St. Ives station, which is towards the top of the map.
- The St. Ives Bay Line is 4.25 miles long.
- No tracks are electrified.
- There are three intermediate stations.
This second OpenRailwayMap shows St. Erth station in more detail.
Note.
- The St. Ives Bay Line has its own platform at the side of the station.
- I am fairly certain, that some form of charging could be installed in this platform.
- At the other side of the Cornish Main Line are two sidings, which could be used for cleaning and maintenance.
A neat zero-carbon branch line could easily be created.
New Branch Lines To New Developments
In Sheffield Region Transport Plan 2019 – A New Tram-Train Route To A New Station At Waverley, I gave my view on a tram-train loop from the Sheffield-Lincoln Line to serve the Advanced Manufacturing Centre and new housing at Waverley.
The tram-train would run as a train to the branch line for the development and then run as a battery-electric tram, through the development.
As the Midland Main Line to Sheffield will be electrified, the tram-trains could be charged on the electrification in Sheffield station.
Build Them In Doncaster
Wabtec are closing Doncaster works.
Surely this would be the site to assemble the scores of tram-trains that could be needed in the UK.
Conclusion
Tram-trains could do a lot to improve the railways of the UK.
They would also help to decarbonise the existing system.
Thoughts On Tram-Trains In Manchester
The State Of Public Transport In the North
Over the last few years plans have been put in place to improv the state of the public transport of the major cities of the North and progress has started to happen, with new trains, trams and light rail systems being planned and in some cases coming into service.
Birmingham, Coventry And The West Midlands
A lot of investment has been made and it is continuing.
- Birmingham New Street station has been rebuilt.
- Coventry and Wolverhampton stations have been remodelled.
- Two new stations were built in Birmingham for the Commonwealth Games.
- A large number of new Class 730 local trains are being brought into service.
- Birmingham stations are being updated for High Speed Two.
- The West Midland Metro has been extended at both ends and a second line is under construction.
Transport in the wider West Midlands has been greatly improved.
Derby, Nottingham, Sheffield And The East Midlands
The major investment in this area is the electrification of the Midland Main Line and the provision of new Hitachi electric Class 810 trains.
In addition the following has been done.
- The Hope Valley line between Manchester and Sheffield has been improved.
- Derby station has been improved.
- The local trains have been refurbished.
- The power supply has been improved.
- An application for an Open Access service to Sheffield has been made.
The improvements in the East Midlands, will not be on the same scale as in the West Midlands, but they will make a difference.
Leeds, Bradford And West Yorkshire
For decades, West Yorkshire and especially Bradford has lagged behind the rest of the North.
But at least things are stirring.
- Plans have been laid to create a through station in Bradford.
- Leeds station has been refurbished.
- An extra platform is being added at Bradford Forster Square station.
- The TransPennine Upgrade is underway to electrify between Huddersfield and York.
- Hitachi have developed a battery-electric high speed train for the TransPennine route.
- Bradford is installing a hydrogen electrolyser, so that the city can have hydrogen buses to cope with the hills.
- Plans are now being developed to create a metro for Leeds and Bradford.
West Yorkshire is closing the gap to the rest of the North.
Liverpool And Merseyside
Again, a lot of investment has been made.
- The approaches to Liverpool Lime Street station have finally been sorted, with more tracks and new signalling.
- Liverpool Lime Street station has been improved and is now one of the finest stations in Europe.
- Trains are now approaching High Speed Two times between Crewe and Liverpool.
- More services between London and Liverpool can now be planned, with the arrival of new Class 807 trains.
- Some new stations have been built and more are planned.
- A large number of new Class 777 local trains are being brought into service.
Transport in the wider Merseyside has been greatly improved.
Newcastle, Tyneside And Northumberland
The area is getting investment, but not as much in proportion as others.
- The Metro trains are being replaced and the Metro itself, is getting a major update.
- The East Coast Main Line has received improvements to power supplies, signalling and some bottlenecks.
- The Northumberland Line to Ashington is being brought back into operation.
It’s a start, but if the Northumberland Line is a success, I can see a call for more line re openings.
Manchester And Greater Manchester
If you look at each of the areas, they generally have one or more large projects.
- Birmingham, Coventry And The West Midlands – Birmingham New Street station, Class 730 Trains, High Speed Two, West Midland Metro
- Derby, Nottingham, Sheffield And The East Midlands – Midland Main Line, Class 810 Trains, Hope Valley Line, Open Access To Sheffield
- Leeds, Bradford And West Yorkshire – Leeds station, Bradford improvements, TransPennine Upgrade, Battery-Ekectric Trains, Leeds Metro
- Liverpool And Merseyside – Liverpool Lime Street Improvements, Class 807 Trains, Class 777 Trains
- Newcastle, Tyneside And Northumberland – Metro upgrade with New Trains, Northumberland Line
So what improvements are in the pipeline for Greater Manchester?
This Wikipedia entry is entitled Proposed Developments Of Manchester Metrolink.
The proposed developments include in the Wikipedia order.
- New Metrolink Stop: Stop to serve new housing development proposed at Elton Reservoir on the Bury Line.
- New Metrolink Stop: Stop to serve new housing development proposed at Sandhills on the Bury Line.
- New Metrolink Stop: Stop to serve new housing development proposed at Cop Road on the Oldham and Rochdale Line.
- Airport Line extension to Terminal 2: A short extension of the Airport Line from the current Manchester Airport station to the site of the expanded Terminal 2.
- Airport Line extension to Davenport Green: An extension of the Airport Line from Roundthorn to the site of the proposed Manchester Airport High Speed station on the HS2 high speed network.
- Oldham–Heywood via Rochdale tram-train pathfinder: A tram-train service utilising the heavy rail Calder Valley line to connect Oldham to Heywood through Rochdale railway station.
- Manchester Airport–Wilmslow via Styal tram-train pathfinder: A tram-train service operating on the southern section of the heavy rail Styal Line between Manchester Airport and Wilmslow in Cheshire.
- South Manchester–Hale via Altrincham tram-train pathfinder: An extension of Metrolink’s Altrincham Line using tram-train to reach Hale on the heavy rail Mid-Cheshire line.
- Improved Metrolink frequency between Piccadilly and Victoria stations: Increasing capacity to provide a direct service from Rochdale and Oldham to Manchester Piccadilly.
- Interventions to improve Metrolink capacity and reliability: Includes improvements to turnback facilities and double-tracking currently single-track sections.
- Further interventions to improve Metrolink capacity and reliability: Includes longer vehicles, a third depot and double-tracking currently single-track sections.
- Manchester–Stalybridge extension: An extension of the East Manchester Line from Ashton-under-Lyne to Stalybridge.
- Manchester–Middleton extension: A proposed spur from the Bury Line connecting to the town of Middleton.
- Oldham–Middleton extension: A spur from Oldham to Middleton.
- MediaCityUK–Salford Crescent: A line connecting the MediaCityUK tram stop to the Salford Crescent railway station interchange. Further new Metrolink.
- Connections between Salford Crescent, Inner Salford and the City Centre: Extension of the MediaCityUK–Salford Crescent line into the regional centre.
- Completion of the Airport Line (Wythenshawe Loop): Completion of the Wythenshawe Loop by connecting the Metrolink lines between the Davenport Green and Manchester Airport Terminal 2 extensions.
- Port Salford/Salford Stadium extension: Extending the Trafford Park Line from the Trafford Centre to a proposed container terminal at Port Salford.
- Glossop tram-train: A tram-train service utilising the Glossop line between Manchester and Glossop in Derbyshire.
- Marple tram-train: A tram-train service utilising the Hope Valley line branches north of Marple towards Manchester.
- Manchester–Wigan via Atherton tram-train: A tram-train service utilising the Atherton section of the Manchester–Southport line between Manchester and Wigan.
- Manchester–Warrington tram-train: A tram-train service utilising the southern route of the Liverpool–Manchester lines between Manchester and Warrington.
- Stockport–Hazel Grove tram-train: A tram-train service between Stockport and the suburb of Hazel Grove.
- Stockport–Manchester Airport tram-train: A tram-train service between Stockport and Manchester Airport.
- Rochdale–Bury via Heywood tram-train: Extension of the Oldham–Heywood tram-train pathfinder from Heywood to Bury.
- Manchester Airport–Mid Cheshire tram-train: A tram-train service from Manchester Airport using a proposed Western Link rail line to the Mid-Cheshire line.
- Stockport–Ashton via Denton and Reddish tram-train: A tram-train service utilising the Stockport–Stalybridge line from Stockport to Ashton.
- Cornbrook–Manchester Airport via Timperley tram-train: A tram-train service from Cornbrook using the Altrincham line to Timperley, the Mid Cheshire line to Baguley, then the Wythenshawe Loop to Manchester Airport.
- Regional centre metro tunnel: Providing capacity for more services on the network.
- Oldham–Greenfield via Grotton extension: A Metrolink spur from Oldham town centre to Greenfield railway station on the Huddersfield line.
- Oldham–Royton extension: A Metrolink spur from the Oldham and Rochdale line to the town of Royton.
Note.
- The number of times that tram-trains are mentioned.
- But with its numerous rail and tram lines, Greater Manchester is ideally suited for conversion to tram-trains.
- There are three pathfinder routes for tram-trains, which will be converted first to prove the technology.
These are my detailed thoughts on tram-trains in Greater Manchester,
All Routes Could Be Run By Identical Tram-Trains
If this can be arranged, it is surely preferable from the operator, staff and passengers point-of-view.
Tram-Trains Can Run On Secondary Routes Like The Calder And Hope Valley Lines
In Manchester, this would enable some routes to be swapped from the rail to the tram network.
It would also allow trams to run between networks, so you could have a direct tram service between say Stockport and Sheffield on the Hope Valley Line.
Tram-Trains Can Be Faster
Tram-trains can be faster, when running on rail lines, so they don’t hold up expresses.
What Do Tram-Trains Look Like?
This is one of Sheffield’s Class 399 tram-trains at Rotherham Parkgate.
Note.
- This tram-train is a member of the Stadler Citylink family.
- this version can be powered by either 750 VDC or 25 KVAC.
- The Welsh version will also have battery-power.
- It is a three-car tram train.
- There is step-free access.
The Wikipedia entry for the Stadler Citylink has lots more details.
Stadler have just launched a new smaller one- or two-car tram-train.
This image from the press release shows the prototype hydrogen-powered one-car RS ZERO.
Note.
- The Regio-Shuttles can run as up to seven car trains.
- These RS ZERO are powered by overhead electrification, battery or hydrogen power.
- They can carry 170 passengers at 75 mph.
- They can run as train-trams using the Chemnitz model on compatible tram networks.
- The interiors are very flexible.
- An RS ZERO can be fitted with toilets for the posher parts of Manchester.
- Typically, a one-car RS ZERO handles a similar passenger load to a one-car Metrolink vehicle.
The more I compare the RS ZERO with the Metrolink’s trams, the more it looks like Stadler’s design has a Metrolink order firmly in its sights.
A Simple Tram-Train Example
The Altrincham Line of the Metrolink, runs between Altrincham and Deansgate-Castlefield in Central Manchester.
- Tram-trains would be capable of sharing the tracks with the current trams.
- Initially, they would run an identical service to the same destinations in the North.
- At either Navigation Road or Altrincham stations, they would switch to the heavy rail track.
- They would then travel to Hale or whatever station is determined to be the terminus.
Tram-trains would be a simple way of extending a tram service along a heavy eail line.
The Range Of The RS ZERO
This article on the Railway Gazette is entitled Prototype RS Zero Hydrogen Or Battery Railcar For Secondary Lines Unveiled At InnoTrans, has this paragraph.
The hydrogen powered RS Zero has a range of more than 700 km in the single car version, and a two-car version would offer more than 1 000 km. Battery trains will offer ranges of 80 to 110 km or 90 to 180 km. The maximum speed is 120 km/h.
As Chester and Manchester is only 45 miles or 72.4 kilometres, ways and means of running the battery versions on the route should be possible.
In fact, as Stockport and Manchester Piccadilly is already electrified at 25 KVAC and a return trip to Manchester Piccadilly from Stockport probably takes about twenty-five minutes, I would envisage that an RS ZERO would leave Stockport for Chester with a full battery. As Stockport and Chester is only 39.2 miles or 63 kilometres, the RS ZERO should do the trip if it started with a full battery and had a short length of electrification at Chester to top up the battery, if needed.
Other Possible Tram-Train Routes From Stockport
It is indicated the Metrolink would like to run other tram-train routes from Stockport.
- Ashton – Not sure of the route
- Buxton – 31.8 km
- Hazel Grove – 5 km – Electrified
- Manchester Piccadilly – 9 km – Electrified
- Manchester Airport – Not sure of the route
- Sheffield – 59 km – Will be electrified at Sheffield
Note.
- This would speed up Sheffield services.
- Buxton would be an interesting route and would probably use Newton’s friend to help on the return.
I suspect that nearly all local services from Manchester through Stockport could be run by battery-electric or hydrogen tram-trains.
The Glossop Line Could Be Converted To Tram-Train
It’s already electrified so why not?
Conclusion
It strikes me, that a lot of Manchester’s suburban rail network could be converted to RS ZERO tram-trains.
The RS ZERO tram-trains could also be used on existing tram routes to convert them to tram-train operation and extend them.
As a bonus Manchester’s trains would be substantially decarbonised.
The Anonymous Widower 