Letter: Greetland and Elland Parkway is best option

This idea was suggested by Chris Blakely, who had a letter published within the Courier on April 11, 2014, prompted by an article regarding this new station at Elland a week earlier. This letter itself prompted two letters of support from AS Woodcock and Norman Kemp, who had letters published over subsequent weeks.

No doubt this was because of the clear and obvious benefits that a station upon this site would have upon Greetland, but also Stainland, West Vale, Holywell Green and even Elland, as buses from these locations are funnelled directly past this site! Rendering the re-routing of buses that are provided upon a commercial basis unnecessary.

Such a station upon this site could also act as a ‘Park and Ride’ for not only rail users but also visitors to Calderdale Royal Hospital, Halifax and the Piece Hall, potentially removing the need to spend £8-12 million on this new multi-storey car park down below Halifax Railway Station.

A major benefit of a station upon this site is that due to the proximity to the junction that allows trains to head towards Halifax and Bradford instead of Sowerby Bridge and Manchester. The trackwork could be designed in such a way in order to allow trains to turn back without affecting services along the valley bottom, allowing a much more frequent train service than what would be possible at the proposed/planned Lowfields site. This is something that could justify the re-opening of the third platform at Halifax Station.

Another benefit of a station upon this site is that a connection could be made to part of National Cycle Network, Route 69 that runs through West Vale and over the viaduct upon the former Stainland Branchline, upon land that is already owned by Calderdale Council. This could eventually be connected to Spring Wood Buisness Park at Holywell Green and even westwards onto Copley.

If logic does prevail over politics, a station upon this site could be called ‘Greetland and Elland Parkway’ to reflect the town and village that it will no doubt serve despite lying outside of the respected areas.

Due to that in theory this should be much cheaper as this site is much flatter. Perhaps what’s left of the £20 million could be put towards another station more central to Lowfield’s Business Park and Lower Edge that is expected to see a significant increase in residential development over the coming years in comparison to the rest of Elland upon the opposite side of the Calderdale Way.

A station upon this site could be called ‘Lowfields’ to distinguish between the two.