Construction milestones reached on Hope Valley Railway Upgrade

Further developments on the Hope Valley Railway Upgrade are in place, as we undertake essential improvements to the line between Manchester and Sheffield.

Recent line closures have seen major work completed, with key milestones hit by the project team.

The lift shafts for the newly built accessible footbridge have now been constructed at Dore & Totley station, whilst a bridge has been extended in Bamford to facilitate the new passing loop between Bamford and Hathersage stations as the installation nears completion.

Rail Minister, Huw Merriman, said: “I’m pleased to see another milestone reached in this multi-million-pound, Government funded scheme which will transform rail travel for passengers across the Pennines.

“The delivery of this project underpins our Network North Plan – the Government’s commitment to inject unprecedented levels of investment to improve the country’s transport – and will lead to more reliable services between Sheffield and Manchester once complete next year.”

The next six months will see the team complete the final stages of work – track installation, an underbridge extension and the footbridge installation in Dore & Totley are the remaining projects as we edge closer to delivering the Hope Valley Railway Upgrade in full.

Track replacement work will also take place in Grindleford, along with signalling improvements across large sections of the railway line.

Graeme Whitehead, Senior Sponsor at Network Rail, said: “The Hope Valley project team have been working hard to deliver a huge amount of work in recent weeks to ensure that key elements of construction are completed on time.

“Work is progressing well, with the scheme well on its way to delivering benefits for our customers travelling via train between Manchester and Sheffield.”

Chris Nutton, Major Projects Director for TransPennine Express, shared this sentiment: “These engineering works are a crucial step towards delivering better services across the Hope Valley route, improving the stations we serve and upgrading infrastructure to make journeys more reliable.

"While these works take place around Christmas and early next year, there will be changes to TransPennine Express services, and we would urge our customers to check our website before they travel: www.tpexpress.co.uk/travel-updates/changes-to-train-times.”

To facilitate upcoming work, the railway line will be closed and work will take place throughout the day and night on the following dates:

• 00:30am Monday 25^th December – 3am Wednesday 27^th December 2023
• 00:15am Sunday 31^st December – 3:30pm Sunday 31^st December 2023
• 11pm Friday 19^th January – 1am Monday 22^nd January 2024
• 11pm Friday 26^th January – 1am Monday 29^th January 2024
• 11:30pm Saturday 3^rd February – 1am Monday 5^th February 2024
• 11:30pm Saturday 10^th February – 1am Monday 12^th February 2024
• 11pm Friday 15^th March – 5:15am Monday 25^th March 2024

Rail operators will be using replacement services and diversionary routes between Manchester and Sheffield. Passengers will be encouraged to check nationalrail.co.uk for more information about changes to journeys.

Dore & Totley station car park will also be closed on various dates to enable work to take place:

• 2^nd November – 28^th November 2023: some spaces closed.
• 29^th November – 10^th January 2024: car park fully closed.
• 11^th January – 26^th February 2024: some spaces closed.
• 27^th February – 5^th April 2024: car park fully closed.
• 6^th April 2024 onwards: car park reopens.

Disabled parking and a drop off point will remain in place throughout all closures, whilst local businesses will be open as usual.

The Hope Valley upgrade work involves the construction of new infrastructure and track and signalling improvements to remove bottlenecks and allow passenger trains to pass slower freight trains along the route.

Kerry Peters, Regional Director for the East region at Northern, said: “Once the Hope Valley upgrade is complete, it will unlock a range of accessibility and reliability benefits for our communities. We’d like to thank our customers for bearing with us whilst these works are taking place.”