Over the Christmas period, train services in West Yorkshire will be disrupted because of work in connection with the Transpennine Route Upgrade.

As usual, there will be no services on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, but there will be disruption from Friday, 27th to Sunday, 29th December when engineers replace a vital railway bridge above Osmondthorpe Lane in Osmondthorpe on the east side of Leeds.

Osmondthorpe Lane will be closed to vehicles and pedestrians from midnight on Friday. 20th December until 18:00 on Tuesday, 31st December, with signed diversion routes in place.

During the closure, trains will be diverted or replaced by buses.

Service Changes

• TransPennine Express services between Leeds and York, and Leeds and Selby, will be diverted via Castleford.
• Northern services between Leeds and York, and Leeds and Selby, will be replaced by rail-replacement bus services calling at Cross Gates, Garforth, East Garforth, Micklefield, and Church Fenton(for services to/from York, and South Milford for services to/from Selby.
• Most CrossCountry services between Sheffield and York will be diverted via Doncaster and will not call at Wakefield Westgate or Leeds.

Further work will be carried out on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, but will not affect train services. This includes:

• Piling foundations for new overhead line equipment at Church Fenton.
• Removing a section of Station Road railway bridge in Mirfield to create a new station entrance and carrying out piling for a new station platform.
• Replacing a set of points near Miles Platting in Manchester.

On Friday, 27th December

• TransPennine Express services between Manchester Piccadilly and York will start/terminate at Wakefield Kirkgate instead of York.

“These upgrades are a vital part of our wider programme of work, and I’d like to thank passengers and local residents for their patience and understanding while they take place. We understand how important the festive period is for people seeing family and friends, so we have worked closely with our train operating colleagues to keep people on the move. The festive period is one of the quietest times on the railway, meaning we can carry out important work whilst causing less disruption. I’d encourage anyone travelling by train to plan their journey ahead of time and check National Rail Enquiries for the latest information.”

Adam Sellers, Senior Sponsor for the Transpennine Route Upgrade