On Friday 11th September, I took the train from Chester to Leeds for just £2 thanks to Northern’s Flash Sale, which took place between 2nd and 4th September 2026. This is an ongoing Flash Sale that seems to take place once a year, and it’s something I always look forward to taking advantage of, especially when it gives me the opportunity to explore somewhere new for such a bargain price. My original plan for this trip was to visit the stations between Leeds and Ilkley before continuing towards Bradford Foster Square, but as the day went on I decided to change my plans and concentrate solely on the Ilkley branch instead. However, before getting started with the main part of the journey, my day began at Bebington, where I boarded the 08:29 service to Chester, arriving a few minutes before 9am. With around half an hour to spare, I had some time to wait before my train from Chester to Leeds was due to depart at 09:27.

Departing Bebington a minute late, I was hoping that the slight delay wouldn’t have any knock-on effect on the rest of my journey. Fortunately, we managed to make up the time and arrived into Chester on time, which was a relief as my train to Leeds was due to depart at 09:27. This gave me plenty of time to make my way into the station and collect my tickets for the journey to Leeds. I headed over to the ticket machines, entered my details and waited for my tickets to print, but unfortunately things didn’t quite go to plan.

Rather frustratingly, the ticket machine only printed my outward journey to Leeds and didn’t provide me with the return portion of my ticket. As I had already used the code to print the tickets, I couldn’t simply use it again, so I had to head over to the staff in the new Ticket Office at Chester Railway Station to see if they could help. Thankfully, the staff were able to sort the problem out, although they had to provide me with a slip of paper that would allow me to travel from Leeds back to Chester on the 19:42 service. It certainly wasn’t the smoothest start to the day, but thankfully the issue was resolved and I could finally make my way to the platform ready for the next part of my journey to Leeds.

Once the ticket situation had finally been resolved, I headed over to Platform 6 to board my direct train to Leeds, which was scheduled to take around 2 hours and 20 minutes. The service was operated by one of Northern’s CAF Class 195s, a fleet that first entered passenger service in July 2019, making these units around seven years old now. Despite their age, I still think the Class 195s feel relatively modern and fresh, especially when compared with some of the newer units such as Transport for Wales’ Class 197s. These trains are also capable of reaching speeds of up to around 100mph where the railway allows, making them well suited to longer-distance journeys across the Northern network. With everything now sorted and the train waiting on the platform, it was finally time to settle in and enjoy the journey. We departed Chester right on time at 09:27, with Warrington Bank Quay our first stop before continuing onwards to Earlestown and the rest of the route towards Leeds.

Between leaving Chester and reaching our first stop at Warrington Bank Quay, we unfortunately found ourselves held at a red signal near Frodsham, which was a little frustrating as I had a fairly tight connection waiting for me at Leeds. I was hoping to catch the 12:03 service from Leeds towards Ilkley, as my plan for the day was to tick off a number of stations along the Ilkley branch. At the time of writing this post, my Every Station challenge currently stands at 77 stations visited, so I was keen to add a few more to that total. Thankfully, we weren’t held for too long and eventually got moving again, arriving into Warrington Bank Quay around three minutes late. This would become a bit of a recurring theme throughout the journey, with the train picking up small delays at various points along the route, although thankfully by the time we reached Bradford we had managed to get back on time.

From Warrington Bank Quay, the journey continued towards Earlestown and then Newton-le-Willows, both of which are familiar territory for me. In total, there are 15 stops between Chester and Leeds, including Warrington Bank Quay, Earlestown, Newton-le-Willows, Manchester Victoria, Rochdale, Todmorden, Hebden Bridge, Mytholmroyd, Sowerby Bridge, Halifax, Low Moor, Bradford Interchange, New Pudsey, Bramley and finally Leeds. At Bradford Interchange, the train reverses direction before continuing towards Leeds, making this quite an interesting route with plenty of different scenery and locations along the way. For now though, my next stop was Earlestown, followed by Newton-le-Willows, as the journey towards Leeds continued.

From Newton-le-Willows, we continued our journey towards Manchester, speeding through Patricroft and Eccles before branching off once again towards Salford and eventually Manchester Victoria. By this point, we were running a few minutes late after the earlier hold-up near Frodsham and the delays around Warrington Bank Quay, but thankfully the journey was still progressing nicely. We arrived into Manchester Victoria a few minutes behind schedule before continuing onwards towards Rochdale. Along the way, the train passed through Moston, Mills Hill and Castleton without stopping, as this particular service operates as a mixed stopping service, meaning it only calls at the stations listed in the timetable while speeding through others. After Rochdale, the train continued through a further three stations without stopping before reaching Todmorden, where the service effectively became a stopping service once again. From Todmorden onwards, the train would call at the next eight stations on its way towards Leeds, giving me plenty more opportunities to enjoy the stunning scenery across West Yorkshire and the surrounding countryside as we continued our journey eastwards.

I have previously visited Hebden Bridge station, but I’m already looking forward to coming back here properly as part of a future trip to visit the stations between Rochdale and Bradford Interchange. There are still plenty of stations along this stretch of the route that I haven’t ticked off my Every Station challenge, so I think this will make for a really enjoyable adventure. It’s always exciting knowing that there are more places to explore along a route I’ve travelled before, and I’m looking forward to taking my time, getting off at each station and seeing what they have to offer.

The scenery along this section of railway is simply breathtaking, especially as the line winds its way through the Pennines. One moment you’re travelling through open countryside with spectacular views across the hills, and the next you’re disappearing into one of the many dark tunnels before emerging back into the daylight. It’s exactly the kind of journey where you can sit back, relax and simply enjoy the ride. Travelling from two major cities, Chester and Leeds, this journey takes you right across the North of England, from Cheshire through Greater Manchester and into West Yorkshire, and it really highlights just how varied and beautiful the scenery can be along the way.

The next part of our journey became a little more interesting as we continued through West Yorkshire, calling at stations including Halifax and Low Moor before reaching Bradford Interchange, where the train has a brief interlude before reversing direction and continuing towards Leeds. Halifax is particularly interesting to me for a more personal reason, as I believe my family originally came from the area, with my Great-Great-Grandad and his wife calling Halifax home. My Grandad was also originally from Halifax before eventually moving to Manchester for work, where he later met my Granny. It’s always fascinating to travel through places that have a connection to your own family history, and knowing that previous generations of my family lived around Halifax makes passing through the area feel that little bit more special. It’s moments like this that remind me that travelling by train isn’t always just about visiting stations or ticking them off a list, but also about discovering the history and personal connections that can be found along the way.

From Bradford Interchange we then continued our journey towards Leeds, passing through New Pudsey and Bramley before finally arriving into Leeds, which was the final destination of this journey from Chester. We also passed through Low Moor along the way, a station which has an interesting history as the original station opened back in 1848 before eventually closing in 1965, only to reopen again in April 2017 after more than 50 years without a railway station. I am looking forward to coming back to Low Moor in the future and properly ticking it off as part of my Every Station challenge. As we approached Leeds, the scenery became much more built up as we left the Pennines behind, and before long we arrived into Leeds Station, bringing my 2 hour 20 minute journey from Chester to an end. It was a fantastic journey with some absolutely stunning scenery along the way, and now that I had finally arrived in Leeds it was time to continue with the next part of my adventure and head towards the Ilkley Branch.

From Bradford Interchange, we only had two more stops left before arriving into Leeds Station, with the train calling at New Pudsey and Bramley before making its final approach into Leeds. Thankfully, despite the delays we had experienced earlier in the journey, we managed to make up the time and arrived into Leeds right on time. I will actually be back in this area later on, as I decided to visit Bradford Interchange Bus Station during this trip, which will be covered in a future Blog Post. It takes roughly 15 minutes to travel between Bradford Interchange and Leeds, so it really doesn’t take long at all before you start seeing the outskirts of Leeds and the railway becomes much busier as you approach the city centre.

We eventually arrived into Leeds Station and terminated on Platform 9D, bringing my journey from Chester to Leeds to an end. Overall, I really enjoyed this train journey, especially travelling through the Pennines and taking in some of the fantastic scenery along the way. Despite a few delays and being held at various points, we still managed to arrive into Leeds on time, which meant I could continue with the next part of my adventure without any problems. I’m definitely looking forward to doing this journey again, and I’ll actually be back on the Northern network next week when I travel between Manchester Piccadilly and Sheffield for the final instalment of this three-part series focusing on Northern’s Flash Sale. I’d also love to know if you managed to grab any £2 train tickets during the Flash Sale and, if so, where did you decide to travel?

Leeds Station is a huge station with around 17 platforms, although I have to admit that I’m not a huge fan of the station itself as I often find it quite confusing to navigate around, especially when you’re trying to find the correct platform. On my return journey from Leeds, I did request some assistance to help me find my platform for the train back towards Chester, although I decided to get off at Newton-le-Willows instead, where I could then catch a TransPennine Express service towards Liverpool Lime Street.

But getting back to the main focus of this Blog Post, travelling between Chester and Leeds was a really enjoyable experience, especially when you consider that the entire journey only cost me £2 thanks to Northern’s Flash Sale. £2 for a journey of over two hours is an absolute bargain, and I really do wish Northern and the Government would offer more affordable fares like this more often, as I genuinely believe that more people would choose to travel by train if cheap and reasonably priced tickets were available on a regular basis. It would make rail travel much more accessible for everyone and could encourage people to leave the car at home and make better use of the railway network.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this Blog Post and follow along with my journey from Chester to Leeds. I really hope you’ve enjoyed reading about the adventure, and I’ll see you again for the next one!