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Friday 27 Dec 2019

Vital upgrade to improve service for passengers completes at Huddersfield station

Region & Route:

Eastern

Network Rail, TransPennine Express and Northern have today (Friday, 27 December) completed a vital upgrade to extend platform two at Huddersfield station, to allow new, longer trains with more seats to call there.

Whilst Network Rail workers have been on site since November, the bulk of the upgrade took place on Christmas Day and Boxing Day when no services were running. Network Rail carries out a lot of major work over Christmas as this is a time when fewer people travel. More than 20,000 railway staff have worked on 386 projects across England, Scotland and Wales this festive period.

The project completed before the first service today (Friday, 27 December). In total, platform extensions are taking place at seven stations along the Penistone line, which will allow longer trains to run on the route, providing more seats for passengers and making travelling more pleasant. 

Matt Rice, Route Director for Network Rail’s North and East Route, said: “We are absolutely delighted that this vital project has completed and we can’t wait for passengers to reap the benefits.

“This work was carefully planned so that it didn’t impact on train services and our teams have worked hard to keep any impact on the station itself to a minimum.

“We will continue with our work to extend platforms at seven stations along the Penistone line, which will improve the service for all those who travel on this route and provide a more comfortable experience.”

Kathryn O’Brien, Customer Experience Director for TransPennine Express, said: “It is great to see the work that Network Rail has put in over the festive period to extend platform two at Huddersfield station.

"The Penistone Line connects many local communities with Huddersfield, Leeds and Manchester and now this work has been completed, customers who are using Huddersfield station will benefit from longer trains, along with better connectivity.”

Anna Weeks, Regional Director at Northern, said: “The work being carried out by Network Rail will allow us to run better, longer trains for our customers – giving them an improved journey experience.

“I’d like to give my thanks to our customers for their understanding while the work takes place.”

ENDS