During Christmas and the New Year, Network Rail engineers carried out improvements between Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds, and York as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade.

The Transpennine Route Upgrade will transform journeys across the North, to provide better connections between towns and cities with more frequent and faster trains, running on a cleaner, greener, and more reliable railway.

In Manchester, near Victoria station and Collyhurst, and near Neville Hill depot in Leeds, major work took place to prepare for full electrification of the 70-mile route. That will eventually help to achieve an annual saving of 87,000 tonnes of carbon emissions, which is the equivalent of 5.9 million car journeys along the same route.

Further improvements were carried out at Leeds, Batley, Morley, and Wakefield Kirkgate.

At Holbeck depot in Leeds, a new track crossing into the depot was installed in readiness for extra trains using it in future.

Improvements at Wakefield Kirkgate will improve the resilience of the line so it can be used as a key diversionary route whilst work takes place on the core TransPennine route. These improvements followed upgrades last November to the signalling and installation of a new footbridge with lifts at Castleford station.

Between Huddersfield and Dewsbury. Plans are in place to double the number of tracks to allow faster and more frequent trains. As part of those plans, investigations were carried out through the railway tunnels and bridges along the line.

At Morley, engineers continued to renew the track and prepare for the town’s new, fully accessible station.

Train services across the region will continue to be affected by strike action until Saturday, 7th January. Passengers are advised to only travel if absolutely necessary and to check the times of their first and last train times with National Rail at https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ or their train operator.

Neil Holm, Transpennine Route Upgrade Director, said: “The multi-million-pound Transpennine Route Upgrade will completely revolutionise rail travel between regional hubs such as Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds, and York and it is great to see all this work delivered successfully over the festive period.

“We are constantly investing in schemes which will bring a better and more reliable railway, and this package of upgrades complements hundreds of other projects delivered across the country, such as the £5.1m platform upgrade at Manchester Piccadilly and the £6m track upgrade at York.

“I’d like to thank both our passengers and communities across the route for their patience as we take one step closer to a faster, cleaner, greener, and more reliable railway for passengers across the north.”