Latest phase of Transpennine Route Upgrade improvement works complete

The latest phase of works to improve rail connections between Greater Manchester and Leeds, the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU), has completed following 28 days of work in West Yorkshire.

Work began on Saturday 30 May and ran until Saturday 27 June on a stretch of the railway between Morley and Dewsbury (pictured) in West Yorkshire. Included in the work was local station improvements and bridge strengthening, as well as 5 km of track renewals to improve reliability of services, and the installation of 66 overhead line equipment masts to enable future running of electric trains.

Jonathan Hepton, project sponsor for TRU, said:

“We’re delighted to have completed this latest series of work safely and on time, thanks to the hard work of our teams and the support of our customers and our communities. TRU has made great strides in delivering a more reliable, electrified railway across the Pennines so far this year, with significant station upgrades delivered, too.”

The Transpennine Route Upgrade is a major project aimed at improving rail capacity and reliability for passengers and freight travelling along the 70-mile route between Greater Manchester, Leeds and York. Once complete, TRU aims to halve the time lost to delays as well as speed up journey times through full electrification, track doubling in key locations and digital signalling.

The programme is also expanding freight provision, opening 15 extra freight paths and widening tunnels so shipping containers can travel between ports on the east and west coasts via rail, removing over 1000 lorries a day from the busy roads across the Pennines.

The next phase of work will see a series of weekend works take place at Huddersfield station across July and August, in preparation for 16 days of improvement works in September. Customers will be kept on the move via diversionary routes and rail replacement buses on the weekends of July 4-5, July 11-12, July 18-19, July 25-26, and August 1-2. Weekday services remain unaffected.

Liam O’Shaughnessy, TRU Programme Delivery Lead for Northern, said: 

“Over the last month, the Transpennine Route Upgrade has made great progress made in in delivering upgrades between Huddersfield and Leeds. The investment in both the infrastructure and improving customer facilities, including at Batley station where improvements will continue this year, will benefit our customers and communities for years to come.

“Working together with partners across the rail industry, we have been able to keep people moving as these works have progressed and we would like to thank everyone for their patience while these works have taken place.”