Network Rail urges passengers to plan ahead prior to weekday upgrades between Huddersfield and Leeds

Network Rail is advising that changes to weekday services between Huddersfield, Dewsbury and Leeds will be in place for a four-week period, as the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) completes major upgrades.

From Monday 22 until Friday 17 May, a total of 4000m of new track will be installed between Morley and Cottingley station while troughing will be fitted to hold 3500m of new signal cables. While this takes place, engineers will also remove five redundant signal bases and undertake some work to the platforms at Morley station.

Environmental and ground surveys will be completed, including bat surveys, trial pits and coring work, in advance of future work along the route.

Diversionary routes and rail replacement buses will keep people on the move, but passengers are advised to plan ahead and check nationalrail.co.uk before travelling.

The work is part of the TRU, a multi-billion pound programme of rail upgrades between Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds and York.

Paul Sumner, Senior Sponsor on the TRU, said: “I want to thank passengers in advance for bearing with us while we close parts of the railway between Huddersfield and Leeds to complete these major upgrades.

“This important work will ultimately help bring about major improvements for passengers travelling across the North of England, with faster, more reliable and greener services”.

Additional work for the Transpennine Route Upgrade will also take place on weekends around this period, affecting trains between Marsden, Huddersfield and Heaton Lodge.

Chris Nutton, Major Projects Directors at TransPennine Express, said: “The major upgrade works that will be done between Huddersfield and Leeds over this four-week period are essential for the delivery of more reliable services for our customers.

“We will be running an amended timetable on our North route while these improvement works are being carried out, diverting trains between Huddersfield and Leeds. Rail replacement buses will also be in place to keep customers on the move for more local journeys. We’d like to advise customers to check before they travel.”

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