More work is set to take place on the rail network in Dewsbury and Batley as Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) teams continue to make progress on the major project.

From Saturday, May 2 until Monday, May 25, 56 engineering trains will be deployed along the stretch of railway between Huddersfield and Leeds as 6.2km of track is renewed and more than 21,000 tonnes of ballast is laid.

Brighouse Station will be used as a rail and bus interchange during this period, allowing more customers to remain on trains by taking advantage of the diversionary routes in which TRU has invested £100m. Other rail services will run as close as possible to the closure areas, with replacement buses in operation to keep customers moving.

Then from Saturday, May 30 to Saturday, June 27, a final phase of upgrade works across Batley and Dewsbury will be delivered.

TRU project team members carrying out work on the track.

placeholder image — TRU project team members carrying out work on the track.

Once completed, and following the final commissioning of the new lifts, Batley Station will re-open and provide customers with step-free access for the first time, alongside improved customer facilities. The platforms will be extended to 150m.

Dewsbury Station will re-open with platforms extended to 200m, enabling longer, higher-capacity trains with more seats to serve the stations in the future.

During this time, there will be no trains through Dewsbury on the following dates:

Monday, June 1 to Friday, June 5; Monday, June 8 to Friday, June 12; Monday, June 15 to Friday, June 19; Monday, June 22 to Friday, June 26.

On weekdays, customers will be kept moving between Huddersfield and Leeds via the Wakefield diversionary route. At weekends, trains will run as close as possible to the closure area and replacement buses will run between Huddersfield and Leeds.

Sophie Leishman, TRU sponsor, said: “Significant progress has been made between Huddersfield and Leeds in recent months, and this next series of upgrades will allow us to take another step forward in what is a key stretch of the route and an important enabler for wider TRU plans across the North.

“Our teams will be working around the clock during these two months. I’d like to thank them as well as our local communities as we deliver these huge improvements to the railway.”

Customers are urged to check their journey in advance at nationalrail.co.uk or with their train operator. Journey times will change, and some customers may need to use rail replacement buses for all or part of their trip.