There was cause for celebration when, for the first time, an electric train ran between Manchester Victoria and Stalybridge.
Electrification of this line is part of the multi-billion-pound Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) to electrify the line from Manchester to York through Huddersfield and Leeds.
The electric train was used as part of the testing of the new electrification equipment which was installed last year from Manchester Victoria to Stalybridge and Guide Bridge stations.
As well as electrification, the upgrade includes replacing the track to allow higher speeds, installing extra signals to allow trains to run closer together, and a junction at Stalybridge which allows trains to pass over it at higher speeds.
The test run followed the completion of work originally started during a 26-day closure of the line in March and April last year.
A Northern Class 331 was used as the test train. This travelled from Blackpool North to Manchester Piccadilly and then was used as a test train whilst running between Manchester Victoria and Stalybridge station.
The section of the Tranpennine Route from Manchester Victoria to Stalybridge station is the first section of the line to be electrified, with the remainder as part of the Tranpennine Route Upgrade, with the continuation to York set to be electrified in the future.
When electric train services between Manchester and Stalybridge start later this year, they will signal greener, faster, and more reliable journeys on the route.
This is a big achievement in our plans to bring cleaner, faster and better travel to the people of the North of England.
Neil Holm, Transpennine Route Upgrade Managing Director
As well as electrification, station improvements are being carried out to improve passenger experience, comfort, and accessibility.
That includes relocating Mossley station 300 metres from the existing station to enable it to become fully accessible for the first time in its history.
The line’s infrastructure is also being improved, including a new digital signalling system that will improve the reliability of services, and the number of tracks between Huddersfield and Dewsbury will be doubled to provide more capacity. In turn, that will allow extra passenger trains to provide more seats, and allow the operation of more freight trains.
During the construction phase of the Transpennine Route Upgrade TRU, 8000 new roles will be created and protected. Of these, 60% will live within 25 miles of the route and 80% within 40 miles.
Further testing of the upgrade work will take place later this year between York and Church Fenton.
This is a big achievement in our plans to bring cleaner, faster and better travel to the people of the North of England.
People can see that TRU is very much in the delivery phase now and the benefits of all our teams hard work is starting to show. I would like to thank passengers and local residents who have supported us throughout the ongoing work.
Neil Holm
Responses
As Northern are getting more Class 323s cascaded from West Midlands Railway as the Class 730/0s are expected to enter service on the Cross-City line in Spring. It would be great to use the Class 323s on the Manchester Victoria-Stalybridge route since it’s been electrified and to electrify other lines in Greater Manchester. So that Northern can run existing electric trains and perhaps inherit the Class 350/2 Desiros from London Northwestern Railway to run long distances from Manchester to Leeds and York with the Leeds-York line to be electrified.
Need to extend the 4 track section from Huddersfield to the west side of Marsden where the current formation goes from 3 to 2 just before the tunnel. The longer the 4 track section the better, to increase traffic flow.
Has anyone figured out how to electrify the Standage tunnel between Greenfield and Marsden? I’ve seen nothing in the press about how this can be done.
Only 70 years since Britain’s First All Electric Main Line across the Pennines was opened and forty three since it closed – Move on – nothing to see
here!
It was the fastest route between manchester and Sheffield the locomotives were built at gorton railway works
The MP for Penistone has indicated that the line from Sheffield to Stocksbridge is to be reopened and section from Manchester to her constituency via Hadfield will be electrified with the fallout of funds from the cancellation of HS2.
The foundations for the masts are still in place, so it is presumed the reopening of the line and the reinstatement of electrification will be respected by an incoming government.
Is woodhead tunnel being used for electricity board cables?
The old tunnels are. I believe the 1954 tunnel has a water main.
There is no water main in the 1954 double bore tunnel. That tunnel is now owned by National Grid and is used for electrical power transmission. The old Victorian single bore tunnels are no longer in a state for any type of use due to their poor condition. A new tunnel would need to be bored if the old Woodhead line were to be reinstated. Therefore, I doubt it will ever be reinstated due to the costs involved.
The MP for Penistone inhabits a different reality from the rest of us and has never yet knowingly said anything true in her life.
She’ll be a distant memory after the next election, so there’s no point in wasting your time listening to her.
The idea that HS2 money could be used to reconnect Penistone and Hadfield is about as barking mad as I would expect from her.
A few years ago the remains of a previous electrification scheme to Hadfield and beyond could still be seen.
The old overhead catenary you’d have seen beyond the station would have been the Woodhead route to Sheffield from Manchester,closed in the early 80s
They too do need replacing as they are getting old. Just like what Network Rail has done with the Southend Victoria line and GEML with replacing overhead wires.