Uppermill High Street to close over two weekends as TRU completes upgrades on Saddleworth viaduct

Thursday 3 Apr 2025

Uppermill High Street to close over two weekends as TRU completes upgrades on Saddleworth viaduct

Region & Route:: Eastern

Across April and May, a section of Uppermill High Street will close for two weekends to facilitate rail improvements on the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU).

The road under Saddleworth viaduct will be shut to vehicles and pedestrians on the following dates and times:

From 6am Saturday 26 April to 11am Sunday 27 April 2025
From 6am Saturday 3 May to 11am Sunday 4 May 2025

Part of Brownhill Lane, Den Lane, and the pedestrian footpath along Huddersfield Narrow Canal will also be shut on these dates and times.

Advance warning signage will be installed on roads prior to the closures, along with signposted diversions, allowing the community to plan their journeys ahead of time. Moorgate Halt level crossing is also being kept open over these weekends, with marshals in place to direct people across the railway.

The closures are required for public safety reasons to facilitate track renewals on Saddleworth viaduct. Some train journeys between Manchester, Leeds and York will also be impacted over these weekends, with passengers advised to check nationalrail.co.uk for information about journey changes. Road users are also encouraged to check roadworks.org for the latest information on diversionary routes.

Mark Ashton, Sponsor for TRU, said:

“While we carry out works as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade, the safety of the workforce and public are our number one priority. The planned road closures will be in place to protect vehicles and pedestrians while track upgrade works are carried out on the viaduct.

“We’re aware that this may cause some inconvenience, particularly over the bank holiday weekend, and we have been working closely with the highways and transport teams from Oldham Council to reduce the impact of the closure as much as possible.

“We really appreciate the local community’s patience and understanding while the work takes place.”

Future upgrades are proposed for Saddleworth as part of TRU, which includes a more accessible station at Greenfield, full electrification of the line and various bridge works to allow the installation of overhead line equipment (OLE), to power faster and cleaner trains.

These proposed works were the subject of a public consultation held in November 2024, which gave residents and businesses the opportunity to provide feedback on the proposed upgrades. TRU is currently reviewing the feedback before submitting a Transport and Works Act Order application to the Secretary of State this summer.

Once complete, TRU will transform train journeys across the North of England and will mean faster, more frequent trains can run on a more reliable, greener railway along the Transpennine route.

Notes to Editors

Our workforce is local, with 80% employment from within a 40-mile radius of the route, and 60% employed from within a 25-mile radius.
With a current workforce of around 5000 people, we expect to employ 8000 people over the length of the programme.
The half way mark of employing 590 apprentices has already been achieved, with 358 now working on TRU
Improved natural environments near the railway through 10% biodiversity net gain across the route. This will create or enhance habitats for wildlife.
The multi-billion-pound Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) will bring this line into the 21st century with 70-miles of fully electric, digital railway.

Our plans include:

Electrifying the whole route between Manchester and York via Huddersfield and
Leeds
Installing a new digital signalling system along the Transpennine route
Doubling the number of tracks from two to four between Huddersfield and
Westtown in Dewsbury.
Station improvements along the route to enhance customer experience, comfort
and accessibility
Improving the railway on diversionary routes to allow more trains to run, to help
keep passengers and freight moving while the core Transpennine route is closed to
deliver essential upgrades. This will provide capacity and reliability improvements
for future too.

Contact information

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

Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries

Journalists
Ewan Bayliss
Communications Executive
Network Rail
ewan.bayliss@networkrail.co.uk

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