Transpennine Route Upgrade: When railway work will impact journeys between Leeds, Dewsbury and Huddersfield
Passengers are being warned to check for railway station closures and service changes including Leeds, Dewsbury and Huddersfield as part of the multi-billion-pound Transpennine Route Upgrade (scroll to bottom for in-brief guide).
From Monday October 6 until Friday October 24 (excluding weekends), TRU teams will be undertaking work at Batley and Dewsbury stations to prepare for platform extension work that will see them become 150m and 200m long respectively. These platform extensions will allow longer trains to stop at the stations in the future, with more seats for customers. Bridge reconstructions will also take place on this section of railway. Track and drainage renewal work will also be undertaken during this three-week period, which will allow faster, more reliable services to run.
Between Morley and Leeds, engineers will install foundations for overhead line equipment (OLE) masts. These masts will carry the electric wiring which will power greener, electrified trains across the North – 25% of the Transpennine route is now electrified following the introduction of electric services between York and Church Fenton in August. Transpennine Express services between Huddersfield and Leeds will be diverted via Wakefield during this period, whilst local stations in between will be served by rail replacement buses.
Further work will also take place over six consecutive weekends this autumn on 4-5, 11-12, 18-19, 25-26 October, 1-2 and 8-9 November, between Leeds, York and Selby. This will include track renewals, signalling upgrades and installing foundations for new overhead line equipment. In addition, engineers will also install the new, fully accessible Barrowby Lane bridleway footbridge near Garforth, and carefully remove the historic cast iron arches at Crawshaw Woods bridge, ready for it to be refurbished.
To allow these upgrades to take place safely, trains between Leeds and York/Selby will be diverted via Castleford, with rail replacement buses serving local stations.
During the final three weekends - 25-26 October, 1-2 and 8-9 November - work will also take place just south of York to replace two sets of heavily used track points, which are crossed by more than 100 trains every day. This essential renewal will improve reliability for services arriving into York from Leeds. While this work is carried out, there will be no trains between Leeds and York, and rail replacement buses will operate throughout.
Customers are being encouraged to plan their journeys ahead of time at nationalrail.co.uk or their train operator’s website.
These are crucial upgrades for the railway in West Yorkshire, but they will have a huge impact on the wider route as they are pivotal in enabling faster services with more capacity. Our teams will be working around the clock to deliver this safely and on time, following important milestone for the programme at Huddersfield station. We’d like to thank local businesses, residents and customers for their understanding as we complete these upgrades.
Joe Munro, TRU Customer Lead at Northern, said: “This next stage of work between Huddersfield, Dewsbury and Leeds is key to delivering an upgraded railway and unlocking benefits for our customers, not just at the impacted stations but across the route. “Whilst this work takes place, trains will be unable to run through Dewsbury station. To keep customers on trains as much as possible, we will divert our Wigan to Leeds services via Bradford Interchange, whilst rail replacement services will connect Huddersfield and Halifax to Dewsbury and Leeds, as well as local stations in between.”
Chris Nutton, Major Projects & TRU Director at TransPennine Express, said: “It’s exciting to see the progress being made to improve the railway’s performance and capacity in West Yorkshire, while the next steps are also being taken in the electrification of the route. Whilst these improvement works are carried out, we won’t be able to run trains on the line between Ravensthorpe and Leeds. To keep customers on trains as much as possible, we will divert trains between Huddersfield and Leeds via Wakefield, slightly increasing journey times. Rail replacement services will connect Huddersfield, Dewsbury, Leeds, and all local stations in between. Customers are advised to check before they travel using our digital channels and we’ll have extra staff on hand at key stations to help people get from A to B.”
What’s happening in brief:
Ravensthorpe-Leeds works: weekdays 06/10 to 10/10, 13/10 to 17-10, 20/10 to 24/10
- Preparation work at Dewsbury and Batley stations, to help facilitate platform extensions
- Track & drainage renewals
- OLE foundation installation
- Weekday services impacted, weekend services unaffected
Neville Hill (Leeds)-Church Fenton works: weekends of 4-5, 11-12, 18-19, 25-26 October, 1-2, 8-9 November
- Track renewals & signalling upgrades
- OLE foundation installation
- Installation of new, fully accessible Barrowby Lane bridleway footbridge
- Removal of cast iron arches at Crawshaw Woods bridge
- Weekend services impacted, weekday services unaffected