Thursday 29 Jan 2026
Bridging the gap in Ravensthorpe
- Region & Route:
- Eastern
Significant progress is being made in the delivery of upgrades by the Transpennine Route Upgrade team in Ravensthorpe, West Yorkshire following the closure of the station in December, with work on the new Calder Road bridge and Baker Viaduct well underway.
TRU will build a new, modernised Ravensthorpe station 200m west of the current site, which will have a footbridge with lifts for step-free access, along with a new forecourt and drop-off facilities. A new, extended island platform also means that longer trains with more seats for customers will be able to stop there.
Key projects like the new Calder Road bridge and the construction of Baker Viaduct are advancing well and are vital in facilitating these upgrades.
Twenty pre-cast concrete beams were installed on Calder Road bridge last year, with the TRU team now in the process of installing parapets to complete the structure. The bridge construction, along with the box junction built underneath, will accommodate new rail alignments – four-tracking – that will allow direct services to overtake stopping services and reduce journey times.
The nearby Baker Viaduct has also seen significant progress, with 16 of the 18 columns required to support the structure now complete. The structural steelwork for the first three spans have also been erected, with Span 2 crossing the historic Calder & Hebble Navigation Canal. The new viaduct will also sweep over the River Calder.
Overhead line equipment (OLE) will be installed throughout the area, powering greener, electric trains in the future.
Calder Road bridge and Baker Viaduct will be connected via a new, grade-separated flyover. Earthwork structures such as embankments and retaining walls will be pivotal to this, and 2025 saw approximately 130,000m ³ of material placed across Ravensthorpe triangle. A similar volume will be used this year to complete the works which will enable faster, more frequent services to travel through the area and beyond.
Andrew Campbell, TRU sponsor, said:
“We made great strides across Ravensthorpe last year, and the recent closure of the station has helped us accelerate progress.
“We’re looking forward to a busy 2026 in the area, and are excited to deliver an improved, modernised station that will improve the customer experience and support better rail journeys across the North.”
Notes to Editors
The Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) is a multi-billion-pound railway programme that will transform journeys across the North, better connecting towns and cities like Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds and York.
TRU fast facts
- 25% of the route is now electrified, with electric train services now running between Manchester and Stalybridge, and York and Church Fenton
- Once complete, TRU aims to halve the time lost to delays
- There are currently 70 worksites across the 70-mile route
- TRU will deliver:
- The full electrification of the line
- Double the amount of tracks in key locations, allowing fast trains to overtake stopping services
- Implement digital signalling to increase speed and capacity
- Improve all 23 stations on the route, supporting accessibility
- TRU has over 5000 staff, with 85% coming from within 40 miles of the route – TRU will have created over 8000 jobs across the duration of the programme
- TRU is expanding freight provision, opening 15 extra freight paths and widening tunnels so shipping containers can travel between ports on the east and west coasts via rail, removing over 1000 lorries a day from the busy roads across the Pennines
Key milestones to date
- New station built at Morley
- Introduction of a fully accessible platform 2 at Castleford station to support diverted services between York and Manchester
- £100m upgrade of diversionary routes completed ahead of major works across the Transpennine Route, increasing railway resilience
- Upgrade of Hope Valley line complete, with a second platform built at Dore & Totley, as well as 1km of additional track at Bamford to reduce bottlenecks
Contact information
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Latest travel advice
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Journalists
Henry Hughes
Communications Manager
Network Rail
henry.hughes@networkrail.co.uk
About Network Rail
We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.
Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.
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