Wednesday 19 Oct 2022
Second life for Castleford’s forgotten platform
- Region & Route:
- Eastern
- | Eastern: North & East
Reopening Castleford rail station’s second platform moves a step closer this October, after being closed for more than 20 years, to boost capacity and reliability for passengers.
The new platform, which is being fully rebuilt, will be served by an accessible footbridge with stairs and lifts to link it to the recently improved station building and facilities.
The second platform – which hasn’t welcomed regular train services since the 1970s - will improve the reliability of existing services and increase capacity, allowing more trains to run through Castleford.
For decades passengers have used a single platform to travel in both directions from the town. This often causes delays for trains trying to enter the station.
Engineers have already started prepping the station for this final phase of the major upgrade, with work successfully getting underway on Sunday 16 October.
The new footbridge will be lifted into place over two weekends in October, with work to complete the track improvements and signalling upgrade taking place over three days between Friday 28 to Sunday 30 October, during which time services will be diverted and will not call at Castleford.
Upgrades will also take place on Sunday 23 October when fewer trains will run through the station. Buses will replace some rail services through the town and passengers are encouraged to check both their outward and return journeys on the National Rail Enquiries website before they travel.
A new crossover has already been installed at Cutsyke to the west of the station to allow trains to use either platform, together with a new signalling system in the area, enabling more trains to run.
This work is being delivered as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade, which will enable the use of the Castleford line to divert trains and keep passengers moving during major upgrades on the main line between York and Leeds.
Following final completion of work, the new platform and footbridge will open in 2023.
Phil Bates, Senior Sponsor on Transpennine Route Upgrade said: “The opening of the second platform and the re-signalling of the route between Castleford and Milford and is a huge moment for the town of Castleford and the surrounding areas. Furthermore, the reopened platform will be fully accessible following the installation of a footbridge with lifts on both sides.
“It also means we’ll be able to keep passengers moving on trains by diverting them via Castleford while we deliver major Transpennine Route Upgrade improvements on the main line.”
Rob Warnes, Strategic Development Director for Northern said: “We are grateful to our customers for their patience whilst this work takes place. Once the new platform and lifts are commissioned, both sides of the upgraded Castleford station will be fully accessible for all, with more resilience built into the station allowing us to run a better service for our customers.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
- To safely install the new accessible footbridge, the station car park will be closed:
- All day Saturday 22 October and until noon Sunday 23 October
- From 21:00 Thursday 27 October until noon Friday 28 October
- On Sunday 23 October, buses will replace trains between Leeds and Knottingley via Castleford. Stopping trains between Leeds and Sheffield via Barnsley will operate Castleford – Sheffield, with buses replacing trains Leeds to Castleford. Trains between Leeds and Nottingham will be diverted and will not call at Castleford.
- On Friday 28 October, no trains will call at Castleford, trains between Leeds and Knottingley via Castleford will be replaced by buses. Trains between Leeds and Sheffield and Nottingham will be diverted and will not call at Castleford.
- On Saturday 29 October, trains between Leeds and Knottingley via Castleford will be replaced by buses all day. Until 6pm, trains between Leeds, and Sheffield & Nottingham will be diverted and will not call at Castleford. After 6pm, trains between Leeds and Sheffield & Nottingham will start at Wakefield Kirkgate instead of Leeds. Rail replacement buses will operate between Leeds and Wakefield Kirkgate.
- On Sunday 30 October, no trains will call at Castleford, trains between Leeds and Knottingley via Castleford will be replaced by buses all day. Trains between Leeds and Sheffield & Nottingham will start at Wakefield Kirkgate instead of Leeds. Rail replacement buses will operate between Leeds and Wakefield Kirkgate.
- The Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) is set to transform journeys across the North. We’re better connecting towns and cities through more frequent, faster trains, running on a cleaner, greener and more reliable railway through Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds and York.
- 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
- More information is available at www.thetrupgrade.co.uk
Contact information
Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41
Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries
Journalists
Louise Leighton
Media Relations Manager
Network Rail
07858 375508
louise.leighton2@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.
Follow us on Twitter: @networkrail
Visit our online newsroom: www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk