Second stage of public consultation for major railway upgrade in West Yorkshire begins following overwhelming support for scheme: Second stage of public consultation for major railway upgrade in West Yorkshire begins following overwhelming support for scheme

Monday 9 Mar 2020

Second stage of public consultation for major railway upgrade in West Yorkshire begins following overwhelming support for scheme

Region & Route:
Eastern

Network Rail has announced when the next stage of public consultation on proposals to upgrade the railway between Huddersfield and Westtown (Dewsbury) will take place.

The second stage of consultation to improve this eight mile stretch of the railway as part of the Transpennine Upgrade will run from Monday, 16 March until Friday, 10 April. During this time, residents will be able to provide further feedback on proposals, which include doubling the number of tracks, electrifying this section of the railway and improvements to stations.

The first round of public consultation on this part of the project showed that 85% of respondents supported the upgrade. Network Rail has further developed the proposals based on the feedback received and members of the public will now have a further opportunity to comment on the revised plans.

The project is part of the Transpennine Upgrade, which will see improvements to the route between York and Manchester via Leeds creating a modern and reliable railway with more seats for passengers and faster journeys, which better connect key towns and cities across the North.

Later this month, Network Rail will hold eight consultation events in West Yorkshire where people can provide further comments on the upgrade. These will take place on the following dates and times:

  • Tuesday, 17 March between 12:00 and 19:00 at Yorkshire Children’s Centre, Huddersfield
  • Wednesday, 18 March between 12:00 and 18:30 at Mirfield Community Centre
  • Friday, 20 March between 12:00 and 18:30 at Yorkshire Children’s Centre, Huddersfield
  • Saturday, 21 March between 12:30 and 16:00 at Mirfield Community Centre
  • Tuesday, 24 March between 12:00 and 19:00 at Hudawi Cultural Centre, Huddersfield
  • Wednesday, 25 March between 12:00 and 19:00 at Deighton Sports Arena
  • Friday, 27 March between 12:00 and 19:00 at Deighton Sports Arena
  • Saturday, 28 March between 10:00 and 16:00 at Dewsbury West Community Centre, Ravensthorpe

Anyone who is unable to make an event can provide feedback via the online portal which can be accessed by visiting www.networkrail.co.uk/TranspennineEngagement. This will open for feedback on Monday, 16 March and close on Friday, 10 April.

ENDS

Contact information

Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41

Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries

Journalists
Network Rail press office - Amy Brenndorfer
Senior Communications Manager
07858375508
07730359569
Amy.Brenndorfer@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