All weekday trains from Huddersfield to Leeds will be re-routed via Wakefield for three weeks in October.
Huddersfield Railway Station has just reopened after it was a closed for a month for massive renovation work with trains once more running from the station to Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield.
But Transpennine Route Upgrade has just revealed that major work at Batley and Dewsbury stations means trains from Huddersfield to Leeds will have to go via Wakefield for three weeks and there are bus replacement services for anyone using stations inbetween.
From Monday, October 6, until Friday, October 24 – excluding weekends – TRU teams will be working at Batley and Dewsbury stations to prepare for platform extensions that will see them become 150m and 200m long respectively to allow longer trains to stop there.
Bridge reconstructions will also take place on this section of railway along with track and drainage renewal work.
Between Morley and Leeds engineers will install foundations for overhead line equipment masts. These masts will carry the electric wiring which will power greener, electrified trains across the north.
Chris Nutton, Major Projects and TRU Director at TransPennine Express, said: “While these improvement works are carried out we won’t be able to run trains on the line between Ravensthorpe and Leeds.
“To keep customers on trains as much as possible we will divert trains between Huddersfield and Leeds via Wakefield, slightly increasing journey times. Rail replacement services will connect Huddersfield, Dewsbury, Leeds and all local stations in between.
“Customers are advised to check before they travel using our digital channels and we’ll have extra staff on hand at key stations to help people get from A to B.”
People should also check before they travel at www.nationalrail.co.uk
There will be no trains from Huddersfield to Bradford via Brighouse and Halifax for more than a year until early 2027. This is because Huddersfield railway station’s platforms have been reduced from eight to three while further major work goes on inside the station.
Stations including Cottingley, Morley, Batley, Ravensthorpe, Brighouse, Halifax, Low Moor and Bradford Interchange will not have direct trains to Huddersfield and passengers may need to change trains as part of their journey.
Rail replacement buses will operate between Huddersfield and Brighouse via Deighton.
Further work will also take place over six consecutive weekends this autumn between Leeds, York and Selby on October 4-5, 11-12, 18-19, 25-26 and November 1-2 and 8-9. This will include track renewals, signalling upgrades and installing foundations for new overhead line equipment.
To allow these upgrades, trains between Leeds and York will be diverted via Castleford with rail replacement buses serving local stations.
Written by ANDY HIRST who runs his own Yorkshire freelance journalism agency AH! PR (https://ah-pr.com/) specialising in press releases, blogging, website content, copywriting and ghost-writing autobiographies.
