During the months of both May and June, Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) teams are set to deliver a wide variety of engineering works between Huddersfield and Leeds.
Between Saturday 2 and Monday 25 May, 56 engineering trains will renew 6.2km of track, lay 21,000 tonnes of ballast and install 51 foundation bases along the 70-mile route.
The work will be carried out across May and June
© Network Rail
During this time, Brighthouse station will be used as a rail and bus interchange, allowing customers to remain on trains by utilising diversionary routes, which TRU has invested 100 million GBP into. Other rail services will run as close as possible to the closure areas, with replacement buses on offer to keep customers moving and reduce disruption.
From Saturday 30 May to Saturday 27 June, a final phase of upgrade works will be delivered across Batley and Dewsbury that, once completed, along with the final commissioning of new lifts, will see the reopening of Batley station, providing customers with step-free access. The station will also receive a number of improved customer facilities, as well as see its platforms extended to 150 metres.
Further along, Dewsbury will also reopen with platforms extended to 200 metres, allowing longer, higher-capacity trains to serve the station in the future.
This phase of work will see 66 engineering trains deliver more than 5km of track renewals, lay 27,000 tonnes of ballast, around 800m of drainage and install 67 OLE masts.
The TRU team is also set to take to Huddersfield station on weekends during this two-month period, delivering platform remodelling, subway excavations and the construction of both a new staircase and footbridge, whilst work to extend the canopy of the station’s Euston style roof. These upgrades, which form a major part of the station’s overall transformation, will be completed in early 2027.
During the week, customers will be kept moving between Huddersfield and Leeds via the Wakefield diversionary route. At weekends, trains will run as close as possible to the closure area and replacement buses will run between Huddersfield and Leeds.
Sophie Leishman, TRU sponsor, said:
Significant progress has been made between Huddersfield and Leeds in recent months, and this next series of upgrades will allow us to take another step forward in what is a key stretch of the route and an important enabler for wider TRU plans across the North.
Our teams will be working around the clock during these two months. I’d like to thank them as well our local communities as we deliver these huge improvements to the railway.