Changes to journeys during major TRU upgrades between Dewsbury and Leeds

Customers are being advised of changes to train services between Huddersfield, Dewsbury and Leeds over a five-week period, excluding weekends, from Monday 21 October to Friday 22 November.

The work comes as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade, a multi-billion-pound rail programme that will bring faster, cleaner, greener and more reliable journeys across the North of England.

As part of the next phase of improvements, we’ll be installing the foundations and supporting masts for overhead line equipment (OLE) along this section of the railway – these upgrades are part of the wider work to fully electrify the Transpennine route.

Other upgrades include 3km of track renewals, 420m of drainage renewals and 680m of track formation improvements.

Jonathan Hepton, Sponsor on the Transpennine Route Upgrade, said:

“The upcoming work between Dewsbury and Leeds will impact weekday services across parts of West Yorkshire, so we’d like to remind customers to plan their journey ahead of time during these dates.

“The TRU team will be working around the clock during this time as we get one step closer to delivering more frequent, faster trains running on a more reliable railway.”

Chris Nutton, Major Projects & TRU Director at TransPennine Express, said:

“It is great to see the amount of work that’s being done to upgrade the railway here in the North. The work between Morley and Leeds will pave the way for the future electrification of a key piece of the route, while the new track and drainage renewal works will improve the reliability for years to come.

“As a result of this work, TransPennine Express won’t be able to run trains on the line through Dewsbury and Morley. To keep as many people on trains as possible, we will divert trains between Huddersfield and Leeds via Wakefield Kirkgate, increasing journey times. Rail replacement services will connect Huddersfield, Dewsbury, Leeds, and all local stations in between.

“We advise customers to check before they travel. For the people who plan to travel across the Pennines, we’ll have extra staff on hand at stations to help people get from A to B.”

Passengers will be kept on the move via diversionary routes and rail replacement buses and are advised to check before they travel at nationalrail.co.uk. Additionally, some disruption is expected  on Thursday and Friday 24-25 October, as the annual Leeds Light Night returns.