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Notes to Editors

• Leeds station capacity improvements – delivered by the Transpennine Route Upgrade – has achieved an ‘excellent’ rating in BREEAM infrastructure, formally CEEQUAL
• Part of this work was the delivery of platform 0 which opened in 2020. This provides more capacity for more frequent, longer trains to run through the station
• Other works completed include:
  • o Replacing the signalling control system and installing a new modern system to increase capacity.
  • o Upgrading the signalling interlocking from a legacy solid state interlocking to a new computer based interlocking.
  • o Demolishing and reconstructing platform 1.
  • o Alterations to Platform 2, 3, 4 and 5
  • o Remodelling the track and overhead electrical lines (OLE) on the approaches to platform 0-3 to allow functionality for parallel working and increased capacity.
  • o Remodelling track and OLE into Platform 4-6 to allow greater operational flexibility and accommodate services from Leeds NW into Platform 4 and 5
• As part of the rating, the project achieved 98% under the communities and stakeholders assessment category due its extensive stakeholder engagement and various social initiatives centred around Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) and charitable volunteering. Examples:
  - working with Leeds City Academy year 8 and 9 students in the Engineering Development Trust Go4Set programme
  - donating the Victorian canopy columns to Bolton Heritage Railway
  - collecting donations at the station for St. George’s Crypt. This charity works with homeless and vulnerable people offering them a safe and warm place to stay, providing meals and clean clothing and access to medical support. Raising over £8,500 (provided by Jamie)
• Design and construction teams worked together to reduce materials and waste, resulting in a saving of over 144 tonnes of CO2e. This included finding efficiencies through delivering some track upgrades at Category 4 instead of Category 2,  reducing the quantity of materials used and changing two OLE portals to Twin Track Cantilevers (TTCs) and removing  four OLE structures.
• Much of the pre-fabrication of components such as the overhead line equipment occurred off site and was delivered to site on installation day. Plus construction colleagues parked at satellite locations and minibuses transported them to the compound. This reduced the impact on station users and nearby residents
• The team worked with small medium enterprises. An example of this was the procurement of £140,000 worth of OLE steel through Adey Steel in Loughborough.
• Drones and 360-degree cameras were used to capture videos and imagery of the site. This reduced the need for repeated in-person surveys – saving time and money.

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 station.
• Electric trains will run between Manchester and Stalybridge by the middle of the decade.
• The majority of TRU benefits will be realised by the early 2030s with full completion of the programme expected between 2036 to 2041.