There have been plenty of calls in recent years for more carriages to be added to trains running locally, particularly at peak times. Usually those calls have come from commuters tired of impersonating sardines on their way to and from work.

Now Shipley Labour Party has added its voice to the chorus, backing an appeal by Metro and Northern Spirit to rail authority boss Sir Alistair Morton for grants to be made available to boost the capacity of the new trains being acquired for the Airedale and Wharfedale lines.

It is a reasonable enough request. Both lines have become more popular lately as roads have become increasingly choked up - the Airedale one particularly so because of the problems of driving up and down the valley route.

When the Crossflatts-to-Cottingley stretch of the Aire Valley road is built, it will solve Bingley's traffic problems but will not end the misery for motorists. Their nightmare will be over only when the Saltaire/Shipley section of the road has been sorted out, and that is not yet firmly on any agenda. Besides, there will remain the problem of bottlenecks at Shipley and Greengates with traffic travelling from Saltaire and Shipley to Leeds and from Wharfedale and lower Airedale into Bradford.

So it seems likely that severe congestion will continue. The train operators should be able to meet and further encourage demand for rail as an alternative by offering travel in comfort on local trains. If they cannot, then the danger is that commuters will opt for frustrating delays in the privacy of their cars rather than overcrowded conditions in cramped railway carriages.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.