Engineering works in connection with the multi-billion-pound Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) will cause severe disruption to train services between Huddersfield and Leeds on most weekends throughout March and April.
During these two months, work will be concentrated on upgrading tracks in Mirfield and Deighton, counteracting the effects of mining around Huddersfield station, and undertaking work on the Huddersfield viaduct, all in West Yorkshire.
On weekends when services are disrupted, they will continue to operate via diversionary routes with extended journey times or be replaced by rail replacement bus services.
Faster journey times between Manchester and Leeds
Once the upgrade has been completed, it will allow trains to operate at higher speeds, and by increasing the number of railway tracks from two to four, the overall reliability of services passing through the area will be improved.
Overall journey times will also reduce, with the fastest journey times between Manchester and York forecast to be 63-66 minutes and 41-42 minutes between Manchester and Leeds.
Paul Sumner, Senior Sponsor on Transpennine Route Upgrade said: “This weekend, engineers will be working around the clock to take us one step closer to cleaner, faster and more reliable journeys through Huddersfield.
“The upgrades include new track being installed, work to Huddersfield viaduct and mining mitigations. These upgrades are a crucial component of our broader programme of work, allowing Huddersfield Station to be completely remodelled, including additional longer platforms, and facilitating trains to travel faster through the area.
“Id like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their patience and understanding while the work takes place and remind customers, including those travelling to the football or other events, to check www.nationalrailenquiries.co.uk or with their respective train operator.”
Chris Nutton, Major Projects Director for TransPennine Express, said: These improvement works are key to the overall modernisation of the railway that will be taking place as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade, which will help deliver a faster and more sustainable service for our customers who travel between Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds and York.
We'd like to thank our customers in advance for their patience while this work takes place. To keep customers on the move, there will be some changes to our services, including diversions on some routes and rail replacement buses on others, and we advise customers to check carefully before travelling. We'll have extra staff on hand at stations to help customers who are travelling on days affected by this work.”
Great news, be Great when transpennine actually cross the Pennines through Skipton,Earby, Colne, Burnley to Blackburn, a real East west link, I do believe this is actually called, the missing link, just 12 miles of new line need, the act of parliament to build it actually exists , What’s the issue, then you’d be true to your name, transpennine!
This is good news to see the North finally getting funding and upgrades , but if they really want to get traffic off the roads , especially freight the old eoodhead route between Manchester and Sheffield , which with a little thought in terms of a link between the west coast mainline , perhaps in turn, linked to the North Wales mainline , allowing for the first time Transport for Wales to potentially run Intercity services from Holyhead and the ferries from Ireland ( similar to the proposed reopening of the Ireland line In southwest Scotland ( Dumfries and Galloway, restoring. Services from Cairnryan where the Irish Ferries from northern Ireland and the rest of Ireland come in and would meet the reopened line to Dumfries , and the Lockerbie branch reopening, that project , and the suggestion I’m making , will give the birth of the UK two much needed long range links from the Irish Ferries, by taking all freight , from the ferry , and putting ir onto the reopened lines, in Scotland it would allow hgv’s to ve carried beyond gretna at the English border , and could use mothballed Eurostar first generation , vehicke carrier trains .
I mentioned this as the idea of linking the north Welsh mainline from the Irish republic ferries, to link in to not only Chester , Liverpool and Manchester, Crewe , but if the woodhead route can be reopened, that line had been redesigned in the 1950’s with new tunnels suitable for large freight trains , to link the west side , to Sheffield , and beyond , if they could reopen. That line to Sheffield , either with a reopened Sheffield victoria station , perhaps relocated if the previous route is blocked , it would also need to be electrified , but not the old DC equipment but standard 25kv AC , but also to link it to the midland mainline, which in turn , shoukd be four tracked between derby , Sheffield abd toward leeds , eith a possible new spur to the east coast mainline.
It this was done right , as the new eoodhead line runs through Sheffield , it’s reopened Victoria station , could be linked by a new tramline , to link to the rest of the Sheffield supertram network , with potential for tram trains to run some services on the new line , which should also have smoke four track sections . The tram trains could go as far as Penistone , but also would allow west coast train operators and opportunities for the likes of Avanti west coast using class 390’s alongside their new Hitachi class 805 and 807 Tri modes, along with Potential transport for Wales intercity by the link I described to the north Wales mainline to Holyhead , .
With extra chords built to allow trains to go north to Doncaster , Lincoln , and places closer to Sheffield , like Barnsley , Barnsley could be one place where tram trains could link them to the Sheffield tram network , providing a real integrated rail network serving as many local areas that either once had rail services or would benefit from rail services. , one final thing .
Which I think works be beneficial for passengers is to amalgamate , Transpennine and Northern rail into a regional railways style franchise .
Giving northern rail Passengers extra choice and intercity services , eg IF they could reooen woodhead , TPE class 397’s among the most popular trains toe have that link Stirling Edinburgh and Glasgow , Motherwell and Lockerbie , to Manchester and Manchester airport , could see them run to Sheffield, and Doncaster for example , also the class 802 toe trains . If they could go a step further and see TFW intercity and class 197’s that could link Holyhead to Yorkshire , and possibly Lincoln .
The new joined up TPE Northern Rail, could also bring in new services to places unserved , and restore some closed lines between Doncaster and Pontefract .
Also to ensure that the midland mainline be fully electrified between Sheffield to Doncaster , Sheffield to Derby , and southward towards Nottingham and Leicester where the midland mainline is being electrified . It may sound like a lot of it would hopefully reduce car and hgv use on transpennine and also the A1
Can we have you appointed as Transport Minister please?
Why are there no trains or replacement buses from Huddersfield to Manchester on the 19th of May?
I hope the improvements workout considering the many years of suffering to come before the work is finished.