CALDERDALE Council should step up its campaign for rail electrification because resulting benefits are vital to the borough’s economic resilience, councillors have been told.

The Calder Valley line is key because it links Leeds and Manchester via Bradford, Halifax and Rochdale, plus several other towns in the Upper Calder Valley, and provides a connection between York and Blackpool and Huddersfield via Brighouse.

Following a chaotic summer disrupted by the negative impact of rail timetabling changes which cost time and money – £38 million to Northern Rail trains alone – in the Northern Powerhouse region, the council’s Cabinet should adopt an effective strategy for lobbying Government, the Department of Transport, Network Rail and others to bring forward electrification of the Calder Valley line.

A reliable rail service is described as “vital” by officers in their briefing paper to Cabinet, which meets at Halifax Town Hall on Monday, September 3 (6pm).

Line electrification is said to bring economic and environmental benefits by allowing faster acceleration and deceleration of trains to improve journey times, less wear and tear on rail infrastructure increasing reliability and reducing costs, reductions of harmful carbon dioxide emissions and a consistency across other electrified lines in terms of overall engine stock increasing flexibility.

Many of these benefits were aimed at enabling people relying on them to get to work on time and encouraging leisure travel, all of which had been severely disrupted this summer.

Electrification also offered the opportunity to investigate “smart” technology to reduce cost and disruption in construction, including modest on-board energy storage to reduce the need for diesel bi-modes.

In basic terms it is popular with the public who like electric trains and when they are introduced appear to use them in greater numbers, says the report.

Leader of Calderdale Council, Coun Tim Swift (Lab, Town) said the investment was much needed and overdue.

“Reliable and good-quality rail services are absolutely essential for residents and businesses.

“The underinvestment in the Calder Valley line has gone on for too long and it’s having major impacts on local people.

“Electrifying the line must remain a priority and we will continue to lobby for this because of the economic, environmental and social benefits it would bring.

“And, of course, it’s a top-ranked recommendation from the Northern Electrification Task Force, based on the scale of the economic impact.”

In wider terms, improved rail services should also cut road congestion and improve air quality if they attract more people to use them, with other council policies being developed to achieve similar goals including better walking, cycling and bus take-up to encourage people out of their cars.

To strengthen ongoing work to drive improvements, Cabinet will be asked to start plans to develop a rail investment strategy and a lobbying strategy to bring forward electrification of the Calder Valley line, working with other councils and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

Signing up to the Electric Railway Charter 2018 will also declare the council’s continued support for the electrification campaign.

Other practical goals include improving parking at railway stations, especially at Brighouse where figures have shown rail usage increasing by half over the past decade, complementing work to introduce new track at Sowerby Bridge, longer platforms at Sowerby Bridge, Hebden Bridge, Todmorden and Walsden stations and signal replacement on the line from Pudsey to Hebden Bridge, all underway in 2018-19, plus an ongoing commitment to a new station at Elland.