It was announced this morning, 14th March by Rail Minister Huw Merriman, that a new Traincare depot at Shipley will be built as part of the governments £3.9 billion investment in the Transpennine Route Upgrade.

The new depot will cost in the region of £100 million and will ensure that trains can be serviced there, along with any light repairs that need to be carried out.

This will add more stability and reliability of trains running via Shipley and in and out of Bradford Forster Square.

The Rail Minister visited Shipley today to visit the site on which the new depot is to be built, where he met workers that will be undertaking the building of the depot, along with locals who will benefit from the project.

He also highlighted how 100s of new skilled jobs and apprenticeships for young people will grow in Bradford and the local area, building on those that have already been created across the Transpennine region thus far.

With the aim of having 80% of its workforce coming from the local areas along the Transpennine Route, it is hoped it will boost the economy in West Yorkshire.

Construction to begin this year

The new depot at Shipley is set to begin construction later this year. It will be the base for Northern electric fleet, which operates across West Yorkshire and which will be extended once the TRU project is completed.

The multi-billion-pound TRU project is one of the UKs biggest rail projects after HS2. The project is transforming services and journey times between the northern city’s of Manchester, Leeds, Huddersfield and York, where services will offer a greener, faster form of transport, double the number of services with an extra 1,000 seats on trains per hour, along with reliability of services.

“It’s great to be returning to West Yorkshire with another significant announcement to boost rail travel for passengers across the North, demonstrating this Government’s plan to invest in infrastructure and support the region’s huge potential for growth. Today marks my fourth visit to Bradford and its surrounding areas in the past five months, with this investment creating new jobs and more reliable services as we accelerate our multi-billion-pound Transpennine Route Upgrade to transform rail journeys for generations to come.”

Rail Minister Huw Merriman

This is the third visit to West Yorkshire by the Rail Minister since November 2023. On his fist visit he announced £400,000 will be spent on speeding up plans for a new station for Bradford.

While his previous visit back in January saw him announce a new £24 million platform would be built at Bradford Forster Square.

Neil Holm, Managing Director of TRU said: “We’re delighted to reveal our plans for this major investment in Shipley, demonstrating the Transpennine Route Upgrade’s commitment to supporting local communities and creating local jobs. This brand new depot will support rail services while we carry out essential improvements and will also leave long-lasting legacy benefits for the town going forward.”

Rob Warnes, Strategic Development Director for Northern, said: “We’re delighted to announce this investment in our brand new TrainCare Centre for Shipley. As the future home for most of our electric train fleets for West Yorkshire, the new site will bring a wealth of highly-skilled jobs into the region, as well as providing resilience for our network across the North. It will play a key part in helping us to deliver our plans for the Transpennine Route Upgrade and beyond.”

Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe Leader of Bradford Council added: “We welcome this major investment in Shipley, which is another vote of confidence in the district from industry and further positions Bradford as a great place to do business. The new depot will be an important part of operating rail in the north of England, increasing service reliability for rail service users. A new state-of-the-art facility such as this is one of the many tangible improvements to the rail network we are supporting, delivering greener, more accessible trains across the north. Increasing employment opportunities and developing skills through regeneration are key priorities for the Council, so it’s great to hear that local jobs will be created to facilitate this project in the immediate term, as well as 92 permanent skilled posts being created in the longer term.”

The TRU project is part of Northern Powerhouse Rail, and is part funded by reallocated money from the HS2 project. This shows the governments commitment to improve rail services between the major city’s across the north of England.