Friday 14 Mar 2025
Eight weekends of track, station and tunnel upgrade work as part of TRU
- Region & Route:
- Eastern
TRU are encouraging customers to check before they travel as engineers complete a series of upgrades across eight consecutive weekends, starting on Saturday 29 March, between Mossley and Dewsbury.
Trains that run through Huddersfield will be impacted each weekend from 29-30 March to 17-18 May. Weekday services will run as normal, except for Monday 21 April, when TRU engineers complete work at Mirfield station.
Passengers will be kept on the move via diversionary routes and rail replacement buses, with further information available at nationalrail.co.uk.
The work forms part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU), a multi-billion-pound railway programme that will unlock a range of benefits for customers travelling between Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds and York.
Gareth Hope, Sponsor for TRU, said:
“This series of work will impact services across several weekends, so we’d like to remind customers to plan their journeys in advance.
“This is a key period for the programme which will take us closer to significant upgrades, particularly in Mirfield, as work ramps up across the wider TRU route to deliver faster, cleaner services on a greener, more reliable railway.”
Chris Nutton, Major Projects and TRU Director at TransPennine Express, said:
“The investment put into the stations and infrastructure between Stalybridge and Dewsbury will not only improve the railway of today, but will continue the vital journey of the Transpennine Route Upgrade that will bring greener, faster, and more reliable trains to rail customers in the North.
“During those eight weekends, there will be changes to the services on our North Route. Customers will be able to make journeys using the amended timetable, including train services over diversionary routes - connecting across the region - and rail replacement buses in some localised sections.
“We urge customers to check before they travel across the Pennines on these weekends. For those who are planning to travel, we’ll have extra colleagues on hand at key stations to help get people to their destination.”
During this period, the TRU team will take to the Huddersfield area to carry out tunnel repairs and install overhead line equipment (OLE) foundations. Strengthening work will also be completed on Huddersfield viaduct, whilst the ongoing roof canopy restoration continues at the station.
Nearby in Deighton, work is being carried out on Whitacre Street bridge so it can be replaced with a new structure in the future. This will enable new track and OLE installation through the area, unlocking faster, cleaner journeys.
From Saturday 19 April to Monday 21 April, the upgrade of Mirfield station will edge closer to completion. Construction of a new platform will continue, enabling longer trains with more seats to run, whilst work on a new station entrance and track upgrades through the area will also be completed.
Track renewal work will also be completed over Saddleworth viaduct in Oldham.
Notes to Editors
TRU will bring passengers:
• More trains to choose from and more seats. Our improvements will enable more
trains to run between Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds and York with up to six fast
services every hour between Leeds and Manchester and up to two stopping
services for local connectivity.
• Faster journeys so you can travel to your favourite towns and cities more quickly.
Our fastest journey times are forecast to be 63-66 minutes between Manchester
and York and 41-42 minutes between Manchester and Leeds.
• More reliable journeys with trains that run on-time
• Better stations across the Transpennine route, bringing passengers a better travel
experience through improved, more accessible stations
• Greener travel, reducing our carbon footprint and improving air quality. Our plans
aim to save up to 87,000 tonnes of carbon emissions each year – supporting the
government’s Net Zero objectives. We’re also developing a proposal to move more
goods by rail (up to 15 more freight trains each day.)
• Together, these freight trains are expected to remove over 1,000 lorries off the road each day.
TRU will bring local communities:
• Jobs for local people. Our workforce will be local, with 80% employment from
within a 40-mile radius of the route, and 60% employment from within a 25-mile
radius. With a current workforce of around 2000 people, we estimate that could
double over the course of the programme. We’ll employ an apprentice for every
£4million spent.
• 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, to help
keep passengers and freight moving while the core Transpennine route is closed to
deliver essential upgrades. This will provide capacity and reliability improvements
for 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.
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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