Monday 7 Nov 2022
Watch: Castleford station upgrade makes key progress
- Region & Route:
- Eastern
- | Eastern: North & East
A brand-new footbridge and signalling system are now in place at Castleford station to bring better journeys for passengers as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade.
The new footbridge, which is fitted with lifts to make it fully accessible, will link the recently improved station building and facilities to the station’s reconstructed second platform, which has been out of use for more than 20 years.
Opening in 2023, the second platform and new signalling system will help trains to run reliably and on time, as well as eventually allowing more trains to run through Castleford. A new track crossover has also been installed at Cutsyke to the west of the station to allow trains to use either platform in the future.
The work took place over three days between Friday 28 and Sunday 30 November, while rail replacement bus services kept passengers moving and members of Northern staff were on hand to assist travellers.
Newly released timelapse footage shows teams lifting the new bridge and stairs into place.
The work was successfully delivered as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade, which will enable the Castleford line to divert trains and keep passengers moving during major upgrades on the main line between York and Leeds.
Andrew Morgan, Principal Programme Sponsor for Network Rail said: “A new platform and better signalling will revitalise rail for those travelling to, through or from Castleford station. This latest milestone marks a huge moment in a scheme which will ultimately offer a fully accessible, better served station for people in the town.
“It also means that going forward, we’ll be able to keep passengers moving on trains by diverting them via Castleford while we deliver the major Transpennine Route Upgrade.
“I’d like to thank passengers for their patience as we installed the new footbridge and revamped the signalling.”
Rob Warnes, Strategic Development Director for Northern said: “We are grateful to our customers for their patience whilst this work took place. Once the new platform and lifts come into service, 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
- 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
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