Leeds-York railway reopens as TRU rolls on

Network Rail has completed an improvement programme in Church Fenton, a Transpennine Route Upgrade project that required a nine-day closure of services between the Yorkshire cities.

Between Saturday 24 October and Sunday 1 November, engineers worked around the clock to install the new Common Lane railway bridge and install new overhead power lines to support electric trains using the route in future.

Work was completed by the TRU East Alliance, which is made up of a number of contractors and supply chain partners.

The new bridge replaces one built in 1901, which NR said was reaching the end of its lifespan. Activity on site during the shutdown was reshuffled due to Storm Boelo, with the railway reopened to trains on time.

The Transpennine Route Upgrade is a multi-tear £11bn programme to upgrade infrastructure and speed up journey times between key Northern cities.

Network Rail said that 25% of the route is now electrified, with electric train services now running between Manchester and Stalybridge, and York and Church Fenton. There are currently 70 worksites across the 70-mile route, Once complete, TRU aims to halve the time lost to delays.

Adam Sellers, TRU senior sponsor, said: “We’ve completed this major work at Church Fenton safely and on time, bringing us a step closer to more frequent, faster, greener trains between York, Huddersfield, Leeds and Manchester.

“A big thank you to our teams who worked around the clock and in very challenging weather conditions to deliver this latest milestone.”

Carl Harland, TRU customer lead for Northern, said: “We would like to thank our colleagues from across the industry for completing these works at Church Fenton and keeping our customers moving over the past nine days.

“The upgrades that have been delivered form an integral part of transforming the route between Leeds and York, helping better connect our communities. Thank you to our customers for their patience whilst these major upgrades have taken place.”

Following the installation of the new bridge at Church Fenton, work has now started to relocate diverted utility services within the new structure, before the road is restored and reopened in June 2027.

A major programme of improvements has also been carried out on the East Coast Main Line in North Yorkshire over the past two weekends, including renewing track and points, upgrading overhead line equipment and drainage, managing vegetation and improving platform infrastructure.

Late October also saw the first steelwork installed at the new £160m traincare centre in Sipley, which will house Northern’s electric fleet for West Yorkshire once works are complete.

The Shipley depot will house Northern’s electric fleet. Credit: Network Rail