Walkers are reminded that train services can be affected by short-notice timetable changes and cancellations, so you are advised to re-check train running times as close as possible to your intended time of travel.

22 March 2026 - Train walk update for Saturday 28 March - Clapham Circular easy walk (amended item)

Additional information from the leader (Cathy):

As the walk itself will not start until the arrival of the train in Clapham at 11.29, walkers are advised to have their morning coffee on the train, as there will only be a stop for lunch on the walk. The walk will also pass through the Ingleborough Nature Reserve for which there is a charge of £2.50 per person (senior) or £3.00 (under 65).

4 March 2026 - Advance notice of changes to train walks programme

Due to engineering work on the Huddersfield line, the following walks have now been changed:

SATURDAY 25 APRIL

The originally scheduled Holmfirth Circular moderate walk has now been replaced with:

Haworth Circular
via Pennine Way and Millennium Way
Book, alight and return Keighley
(bus out from and back to Keighley)
10 Miles Moderate

SATURDAY 23 MAY

The originally scheduled Greenfield Horseshoe moderate/strenuous walk has now been replaced with:

Ben Rhydding Circular
via Ilkley Moor
From the 09.33 Leeds to Ilkley train
Book, alight and return Ben Rhydding
13 Miles Moderate/Strenuous

26 February 2026 - Unlimited travel newspaper offer with Northern Rail - Two separate offers (updated item)

The two travel offers are slightly different and involve separate groups of newspapers, so please read the information below carefully.

OFFER 1: REACH NEWSPAPERS (2 TOKENS)

Get unlimited travel on Northern Rail for the day for only £12 or a weekend travel ticket for £20.

You will need to collect TWO tokens from your chosen newspaper and then purchase your unlimited travel ticket from Northern Rail.

Tickets are valid for travel every day between Monday 23 February and Friday 27 March 2026. They are only valid on trains timed to depart from 08.45 Mondays to Fridays, but are valid at any time on weekends.

For full details of the Reach Newspapers offer, including which newspapers to collect the tokens from and on which dates, plus how and where to buy the unlimited travel ticket, please see the Northern Rail website.

OFFER 2: ICONIC MEDIA GROUP NEWSPAPERS (3 TOKENS)

Get unlimited travel on Northern Rail for the day for only £12 or a weekend travel ticket for £20.

You will need to collect THREE tokens from your chosen newspaper and then purchase your unlimited travel ticket from Northern Rail.

Tickets are valid for travel every day between Monday 2 March and Friday 27 March 2026. They are only valid on trains timed to depart from 08.45 Mondays to Fridays, but are valid at any time on weekends.

For full details of the Iconic Media Group offer, including which newspapers to collect the tokens from and on which dates, plus how and where to buy the unlimited travel ticket, please see the Northern Rail website.

11 February 2026

The February members' newsletter has now been sent out by email and post. The online version will be available to view and download in due course.

6 February 2026 - Statistics

For details of our train walk attendance figures in 2025, plus some analysis of trends since 2013, please see the attached document (PDF format).

3 January 2026

Our full programme of guided train walks for the whole of this year can now be seen in the Train Walks section. Any changes will be announced here and, time permitting, in the members' newsletter.

14 December 2025

The new rail timetable starts today and is valid up to 16 May 2026. Some minor timetable changes will affect Saturday train walks - these are summarised below.

Leeds to Carlisle trains have now been re-timed to depart slightly earlier at 07.47 and 09.18.

The Leeds to Morecambe train has been re-timed to depart slightly earlier at 08.18.

On the Harrogate line, trains will now depart from Leeds at 06 and 36 minutes past each hour. This will affect our walks on 21 February and 14 March.

On the Wharfedale line, trains from Leeds to Ilkley will now depart 1 minute later at 03 and 33 minutes past each hour.

We were unable to incoroporate all of these changes in the new Guided Walks leaflet, so please check the Train Walks section for the correct and updated times.

23 November 2025

The Friends of DalesRail Annual General Meeting was held today at the Black Horse Hotel in Skipton and was attended by 51 members. This was followed by an illustrated talk from Paul Rodgers about the Wild Ingleborough project from the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.

6 November 2025

The 2026 programme of Thursday walks can now be seen in the Members section.

3 November 2025

The Dales Railcard Winter Offer is back from 3rd November 2025, and continues until Sunday 29th March 2026.

It offers holders of Dales Railcards a 50% saving off the usual price of Off-Peak Day Return tickets on the Leeds to Carlisle line via Settle, and the Leeds – Lancaster/Morecambe line via Bentham.

Further details of who is eligible for a Dales Railcard and how to apply can be found on the Northern Rail website.

25 October 2025

The third members' holiday for next year will take place based at the Premier Inn, Pickering from Friday 16 to Monday 19 October 2026 (3 nights). Further details and booking information will be in future editions of the newsletter.

7 October 2025

The 2026 programme of Lake District and Classic walks can now be seen in the Members section.

1 September 2025

For 2025-26, membership of Friends of DalesRail will increase to £13 per household per annum. For any members joining between now and the end of November this year, the anual membership will run until 30 November 2026.

6 July 2025 (amended item)

Friends of DalesRail commemorated 45 years of leading walks for the public on Saturday 5 July with 4 walks from the Settle-Carlisle railway, ending up in Hellifield with a celebration meal at the Hellifield Station Cafe Shed24H for members. The anniversary was featured in an article in the Craven Herald newspaper, which you can view online.

A selection of photos from the meal can be seen in the Past Events (Train Walks 2025) section.