Media centre

Wednesday 31 May 2023

Passengers urged to plan ahead as second phase of significant upgrades at Morley approaches

Region & Route:

Eastern

Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) is reminding passengers travelling along the rail line between Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds and York to plan their journeys ahead of time, as nine days of major upgrades are due to take place from 17-25 June 2023 at Morley station.

Over nine days, engineers working on the multi-billion-pound Transpennine Route Upgrade will start to demolish the old platforms, construct new ones, realign tracks and activate a track turn-back (which allows trains to turn around) and re-control signals to Network Rail’s rail operating centre in York.

For the majority of the nine days, railway diversionary routes as well as rail replacement buses will keep passengers moving, however, there will be significant impact over the first two days of the upgrades (17-18) as engineers complete additional work in Huddersfield, affecting the main diversionary route. During this time, no trains will run between Huddersfield and Leeds and all services will be replaced by buses.

Sarah Thompson, Sponsor on TRU said:

" We're really excited to start the next phase of upgrades at Morley which take us one step closer to a fully accessible station".

"However, for us to safely complete these upgrades, we do need to stop trains from running via their usual route, so I'd urge anybody travelling between 17-25 June to check ahead and plan their journey". I'd like to take this opportunity to thank customers for their patience and understanding while the work takes place". 

Chris Nutton, Major Projects Director for TransPennine Express said:

“As major upgrade work takes place for Morley station, there will some service alterations for TransPennine Express services. Customers are advised to allow for additional time to travel and to check carefully for the latest service alterations before they travel on our website (www.tpexpress.co.uk/travel-updates/changes-to-train-times).

"Updates will also be available on our social media channels. In addition, extra support will be available for customers from Customer Delivery Managers who will be on hand to assist customers with their journeys.”

The Transpennine Route Upgrade is set to revolutionise rail across the north of England by delivering a fully electrified railway between Manchester and York, improving stations along the route and upgrading a number of bridges and level crossings.