A RAIL service popular with schoolchildren will be reinstated -but not until next May.

Services were reintroduced between Bradford Forster Square and Ilkley in July after a landslip in February forced Network Rail to close the line for repairs.

But even before the landslip many services on the route had been cut, including some popular with school pupils.

And now Northern has announced that it will start the 14:51 afternoon school service from Ilkley to Baildon in May, benefiting hundreds of children at Ilkley Grammar School, St Mary's Menston and Guiseley School.

The campaign group Friends of Baildon Station welcomed the move and said on Facebook that the service would start from 25 May 2025. “Of course, we continue to campaign for the restoration of the half-hourly service throughout the day, as well as better connections for Leeds,” said James Craig.

Shipley MP Anna Dixon welcomed the news. She said: “I am delighted that Northern have committed to reinstating the return school service.

“I and many others have been pushing for this for months, and I am relieved for the numerous constituents who have spoken to me about their frustrations since this service was removed.”

In a meeting with Ms Dixon, the train operator confirmed that the 14:51 service from Ilkley to Bradford Forster Square would begin again next May.

The MP added: “More children will now be able to use the train to get to and from school safely, and congestion will be eased on the roads as fewer parents will have to use their cars to complete the school run.”

Kerry Peters, regional director for Northern, said: “The twice-yearly timetable change provides an opportunity to tweak local services in response to customer demand and the reinstatement of the afternoon Ilkley to Bradford Forster Square service from May 2025 is a great example of a small adjustment that will bring a very real benefit.”

Ms Dixon wrote to Northern bosses to demand action and attended several meetings with The Friends of Baildon Station.

Network Rail said that monitoring of the landslip repairs would continue.