Pacer train on track to help community
REDUNDANT CARRIAGE MOVED INTO STATION AS KITCHEN HUB FOR CHARITY TACKLING ISSUES SUCH AS LONELINESS AND ADDICTION
IN any other year the sight of a train carriage being winched through the sky in the early hours of Sunday morning might strike people as... odd.
Yet returning drinkers to Huddersfield town centre might be more focused on their pints as a redundant Pacer train is moved via crane to become part of Platform 1 at Huddersfield Station.
Platform 1 is, of course, the charity that seeks to tackle isolation, loneliness, homelessness, mental illness, and drug and alcohol addiction by providing a sense of community, on-the-spot support and, crucially, hope for the future.
Running since April 2018, it is based on St George’s Square near Huddersfield Station and is instantly recognisable: one of its gathering places is a converted train carriage.
The 19-tonne Pacer is one of many now “retired” from the rail network with just a handful given a new lease of life as community spaces.
The new arrival in Huddersfield - one of several winners of the Department for Transport’s ‘Transform a Pacer’ competition - will be used by Platform 1 as an educational kitchen.
The placing of the Pacer comes as the government is investing billions in the northern rail network and modernising the TransPennine route between Manchester and Leeds.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps described the modernisation project as “a massive and unprecedented task”.
He said: “It’s unprecedented because noone has ever attempted such an ambitious undertaking before.
“Large parts of the north’s railway were built in the 1800s, were subject to numerous closures and cost-cutting and have only received piecemeal upgrades ever since.
“Huddersfield’s rail links are crucial to its prosperity. Prior to the pandemic, the town had the fifth busiest station across Yorkshire and the North East.
“Only Leeds, Sheffield, York and Newcastle attracted more passengers.”
Next week planners on Kirklees Council will consider a mammoth £1bn rail widening scheme between Huddersfield and Dewsbury that involves the demolition and replacement of several bridges.
The project also includes making significant alterations to the Grade I listed Huddersfield Station.
Mr Shapps’ pledge to passengers on the multi-billion pound investment in future rail - with the Pacer representing the past was: “We’re retiring the unreliable past, and are fully focused on building towards a brighter rail future that meets your needs.”