LOCAL rail passengers are looking forward to the arrival of new and refurbished trains on the railway line running through Keighley.

The Aire Valley Rail Users Group is hopeful that the Airedale line, which connects Leeds and Bradford with Skipton, Morecambe and Lancaster, will benefit from better trains.

Details of improvements planned for the next two years have been outlined in the spring issue of the group’s newsletter Aire Lines.

The improvements were promised by rail company Arriva Rail North when it took over the Northern franchise – which includes the Airedale line – last year.

Aire Lines stated: “For most rail users there have been no great changes. However there has been a great deal going on behind the scenes to bring the franchise promises to fruition.”

Key amongst this is the removal of the 200 hated Pacer carriages, the ‘cattle truck’ diesel rail-buses dating from the 1980s, which will be taken out of service between September 2018 and November 2019.

Aire Lines, welcomed the trains’ removal, saying: “There was a clear requirement to eliminate Pacers in the franchise, and there is now a timetable for the removal from service.”

Aire Lines said the Arriva bid also included 98 new trains to be delivered by 2019.

The magazine stated: “Of direct interest to Airedale passengers is the fleet of 43 electric units. Some of the three-car trains are to be seen on our local services, in pairs, once platforms have been extended to accommodate six-car services.

“They are clearly needed to provide extra capacity – particularly in the peaks – but also at other busy times like Saturday evenings when many trains are full.

“Advance publicity shows two-plus-two seating and plenty of room. We look forward to seeing whether these layouts will be used on Airedale units.

“It will provide much more room for the seated passengers, but would also mean there would be many passengers left to stand.”

One Aire Lines writer admitted to being “underwhelmed” by the first refurbished trains to come into service with new blue and white livery.

He wrote: “I found them comfortable enough, but my wife complained of discomfort that she could no longer rest her feet on the floor.

“The interior is much brighter with new lighting, and new passenger information displays are being installed.

“Unfortunately they currently show only the final destination of the train. There is no information about the next, or any other, station stops. This is considerably less informative than the displays in our existing units.”