Express efficiency; The Huddersfield Daily Examiner COMMENT.

RAIL company First Trans Pennine Express is on track to tackle rising fuel costs after bosses ordered drivers to turn their engines off when travelling downhill.

Bosses issued the order after discovering that they can save millions in expensive diesel by freewheeling down slopes, we report in today's Examiner.

It's paid off in remarkable fashion and will save 7% in diesel.

And that's not all - cutting the train engines at the top of hills also saves an estimated 12 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions every day.

It's an admirable and innovative way to make a saving which will help not only the company's coffers but also the environment.

And it is also a reminder of the vast improvement in trains to Manchester and Leeds since the bad old days when Arriva ran the franchise.

Naturally, passengers won't get lower fares in return for the efficiency shown by Trans Pennine Express Indeed, they face the prospect of having to dig ever deeper into their pockets to pay for their travel.

It's a policy set by ministers who have made it clear that the cost of funding the railways over the next 10 years will fall increasingly on the fare payer.

The result is that there will be year-on-year fares hikes of up to three per cent above inflation.

It's hardly a way to encourage us to give up the car.