Working with local people for a revised train timetable through Hunmanby Station

Over the past few months I have been talking to Northern Rail and NYCC to make sure that the new train timetable for services through Hunmanby station, which is expected to come into effect in May, is convenient for passengers.

I have been campaigning with local residents, led by the Friends of Hunmanby Railway Station, to ensure that the new timetable offers a better and more realistic service for people wanting to travel to Filey. We have raised a number of concerns with Northern Rail and North Yorkshire County Council, which is the body responsible for making recommendations to the train operator. These include the timings of the early morning train, which arrives into Scarborough at 7.38, too early for many people; the fact that two trains arrive at Hunmanby station but don’t open their doors creating a two and three-hour gap for passengers; and the increased journey time from York to Filey where a sixty-minute wait at Seamer station increases the total journey to 1hr 50 mins from the current 61-minute journey. The proposed timetable, due to be introduced on May 20th, makes no sense at all. It’s very inconvenient for local people who have to hang around waiting for connections and the long journey will almost certainly put off day trippers to the coast as so much of the day will be taken travelling and hanging around stations where there are no facilities.

Having spoken with both Northern Rail and NYCC I am confident that the timetable will be revised and the times adjusted to put the convenience of the passengers first. I’m pleased that, in the longer term (from December 2019), the number of trains from York to Scarborough will double to two in every hour but, in the meantime, I will do everything I can to make sure that the train operator improves the timings of the services so things don’t get worse before they get better.