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Wednesday 18 Dec 2024

TRU to deliver upgrades in Osmondthorpe across Christmas period

Region & Route:

Eastern

Over one hundred engineers will be working throughout the Christmas period to replace a vital railway bridge on the east side of Leeds, above Osmondthorpe Lane, as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade.

Between 25 and 29 December, workers will remove the old bridge deck and replace it with a new, stronger structure that will enable the tracks to be moved into a better position and allow faster and longer trains to run. 

As a result, in addition to Christmas Day and Boxing Day when the railway is closed, no train services will run between Leeds and Micklefield on 27, 28 or 29 December, with trains being diverted or replaced by buses. 

• TransPennine Express services between Leeds and York, and Leeds and Selby, will be diverted via Castleford.
• Northern services between Leeds and York, and Leeds and Selby, will be replaced by hourly rail replacement buses, calling at all local stations.
• Most CrossCountry services between Sheffield and York will be diverted via Doncaster and will not call at Wakefield Westgate or Leeds.

Customers should also be aware that on Friday 27 December, TransPennine Express services between Manchester Piccadilly and York will start/terminate at Wakefield Kirkgate instead of York. Rail replacement buses will run between Wakefield Kirkgate and York.

Customers wishing to travel on these dates are advised to plan ahead and check before they travel at www.nationalrail.co.uk as timetables will be altered and many journeys will take longer. 

Osmondthorpe Lane, the highway beneath the railway bridge, will be closed to vehicles and pedestrians from midnight on 20 December until 18:00 on 31 December. This is to allow essential preparatory and final completion work to be safely carried out. Signed diversion routes will be in place. 

TRU engineers will also be carrying out several other pieces of improvement work across the 70-mile route on Christmas Day and Boxing Day (25 & 26 December), when train services traditionally do not run. These include: 

• Church Fenton, where foundations will be piled for new overhead line equipment, which will enable electric trains to be introduced in the future.
• Mirfield, where engineers will be removing a section of Station Road railway bridge, opening up the station wall to create a new station entrance and carrying out piling for a new station platform.
• Near Miles Platting in Manchester, where workers will be replacing a set of track points, which enable trains to change from one line to another.

 

Adam Sellers, Senior Sponsor for the Transpennine Route Upgrade, said:

“These upgrades are a vital part of our wider programme of work, and I’d like to thank passengers and local residents for their patience and understanding while they take place. 

“We understand how important the festive period is for people seeing family and friends, so we have worked closely with our train operating colleagues to keep people on the move.

“The festive period is one of the quietest times on the railway, meaning we can carry out important work whilst causing less disruption.

“I’d encourage anyone travelling by train to plan their journey ahead of time and check National Rail Enquiries for the latest information." 

 

Chris Nutton, Major Projects & TRU Director at TransPennine Express, said:

“The bridge work taking place at Osmondthorpe Lane is essential for the delivery of the Transpennine Route Upgrade and will allow us to run faster trains with more passengers down the line.

“While this work is being carried out, TransPennine Express will operate an amended timetable on our North Route services and divert trains between Leeds and York via a diversionary route, with slightly longer journey times. We'd like to advise customers to check before they travel.”

 

The Transpennine Route Upgrade is transforming journeys across the North by better connecting towns and cities with more frequent, faster, greener trains, running on a better, cleaner and more reliable railway between York, Leeds, Huddersfield and Manchester.