Monday 19 May 2025
Customers urged to check before they travel ahead of railway upgrades across West Yorkshire
- Region & Route:
- Eastern
From Monday 26 May until Friday 20 June, services will be impacted between Huddersfield and Leeds to facilitate Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) work at different sites across this section of the route.
Weekday services between Ravensthorpe and Leeds will be impacted between Ravensthorpe and Leeds during this period. Weekend services remain unaffected.
Weekend services between Huddersfield and Dewsbury will be impacted on 31 May-1 June, 7-8 June, and 14-15 June. Weekday services remain unaffected during this period.
Customers will be kept on the move during these works via diversionary routes and rail replacement buses, and are urged to check before they travel at nationalrail.co.uk.
TRU engineers will complete a series of major upgrades including track renewals, which will help enable faster, more reliable trains in the future.
Overhead line equipment (OLE) foundation installations will also be carried out, enabling electrification to power cleaner, greener trains in the future.
Work to a number of bridges and tunnels will also be completed, whilst site preparation continues at Dewsbury station to facilitate the extension of the platforms, so that longer trains with more seats can stop at the station in the future.
Andrew Campbell, Sponsor for TRU, said:
“This series of work will impact services on both weekdays and weekends, at different points of the route, so I’d encourage customers to plan their journeys in advance at nationalrail.co.uk.
“The upcoming period is key for TRU, where a wide range of upgrades across West Yorkshire will bring us a step closer to faster, more frequent trains with more seats through the area and beyond.”
Chris Nutton, Major Projects & TRU Director at TransPennine Express, said:
“TRU works are ramping up in the coming weeks and will deliver vital upgrades to our railway between Huddersfield, Dewsbury and Leeds that customers will benefit from for years to come.
“On weekdays, TransPennine Express 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 Kirkgate, slightly increasing journey times. Rail replacement services will connect Huddersfield, Dewsbury, Leeds, and all local stations in between.
“On weekends, no trains will be able to run on the section between Huddersfield and Dewsbury. Most services on TPE’s North Route will run to an amended timetable, with rail replacement operation buses in place to ensure our customers can travel between Huddersfield and Dewsbury, Leeds and Wakefield.
“Given the nature of these works, with the footprint changing on weekdays and on weekends, we urge our customers to check before travelling across the Pennines.”
Notes to Editors
- Our workforce is local, with 80% employment from within a 40-mile radius of the route, and 60% employed from within a 25-mile radius.
- With a current workforce of around 5000 people, we expect to employ 8000 people over the length of the programme.
- The halfway mark of employing 590 apprentices has already been achieved, with 358 now working on TRU
- Improved natural environments near the railway through 10% biodiversity net gain across the route. This will create or enhance habitats for wildlife.
- The multi-billion-pound Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) will bring this line into the 21st century with 70-miles of fully electric, digital railway.
Our plans include:
- Electrifying the whole route between Manchester and York via Huddersfield and
Leeds - Installing a new digital signalling system along the Transpennine route
- Doubling the number of tracks from two to four between Huddersfield and
Westtown in Dewsbury. - Station improvements along the route to enhance customer experience, comfort
and accessibility - Improving the railway on diversionary routes to allow more trains to run, helping
passengers and freight on the move while the core Transpennine route is closed to
deliver essential upgrades. This will provide capacity and reliability improvements
for the future too.
Contact information
Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41
Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries
Journalists
Ewan Bayliss
Communications Executive
Network Rail
ewan.bayliss@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.
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