Transpennine Route Upgrade and Electrification updates

[twin turbo]

According to the weekly operating notice, the most likely work they're carrying out in this area is simply routine maintenance on switches and crossings (points) on the Slow (Ashton) lines while trains will be running on the Fast (Rochdale) lines, thus the fencing is probably just to protect the workforce

A lot of work going on at Church Fenton end last week, looked like laying of cables of some sort, huge coils of cable on lorries through the village
so hopefully we will start and see some progress!

 

[Halifaxlad]

A lot of work going on at Church Fenton end last week, looked like laying of cables of some sort, huge coils of cable on lorries through the village
so hopefully we will start and see some progress!

Isn't the signalling currently being upgraded?

 

[SuperNova]

Contrary to the initial reports, the platform has NOT yet been extended at the buffer-stop end: just a few metres added at the tunnel end so far.
I appreciate that this work in and of itself is not part of the Trans-pennine Route Upgrade, but it will affect TPE services once the buffers are moved back.

Would it be worth starting a new thread to cover Penistone line platform extensions? I guess it depends how many forum users get down there regularly to keep us updated, as I'm usually only on the line once a fortnight on average.

Platform 2 will only be expanded to allow for 4 car trains if TRU is given the green light, as platform 1 would need to expant further east. However, Schapps seemed to indicate that TRU was happening on BBC Breakfast last week.

 

[trivran]

The Wakefield line was also quad tracked until about late 1970s.

Sorry to bring up something from the deep past, but it seems like the right thread to ask - how true is this and where can I find a source?

 

[AndrewE]

Sorry to bring up something from the deep past, but it seems like the right thread to ask - how true is this and where can I find a source?

There was a link to a website with historic signal box diagrams in the Werrington Junction threads
https://www.signalbox.org/diagrams.php so there might be something there...

 

[edwin_m]

May also be something relevant on http://www.lostrailwayswestyorkshire.co.uk/

 

[superkev]

Not sure this is the right place but I've heard a couple of mentions of a Platform 9 at Huddersfield on the area of the sidings possibly temporary while station improvements are carried out.
Anyone in the know?
K

 

[SuperNova]

Not sure this is the right place but I've heard a couple of mentions of a Platform 9 at Huddersfield on the area of the sidings possibly temporary while station improvements are carried out.
Anyone in the know?
K

As far as I understand it, if the Huddersfield to Westtown section of TRU is approved, then 'Platform 9' as many refer to will be built replacing the sidings at the station. Huddersfield will have 4 through platforms, platform 2 will be extended so the Penistone line can accommodate longer train and there will be an eastbound terminating platform, with the potential (if required) of a second terminating platform too to access what will be the slow lines out of Huddersfield,

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Not sure this is the right place but I've heard a couple of mentions of a Platform 9 at Huddersfield on the area of the sidings possibly temporary while station improvements are carried out.
Anyone in the know?
K

My understanding at present (take with a plethora of salt) is:

• A temporary station with RRB transfer will be built at Hillhouse, and this will be Huddersfield's primary railhead for the duration of the upgrade works.
• Sheffield services will continue to run into the existing station, with bus replacement from Lockwood when a full blockade is required.
• TPE services will divert via Calder Valley, with some serving the temporary station at Hillhouse via the Bradley curve and others omitting HUD entirely.
• Platforms "9 and 10" will be added as part of the upgrade. I've put it in quotation marks as the platforms will probably be renumbered. These will be permanent.

It may well be that the new platforms will be added first, but any platforms on that site will be of limited use until the rest of the work is done: they'd be no good for westbound services for one thing, and Northern need the sidings at the moment so replacements would have to be installed somewhere not too far off.

P.S. On an unrelated note, I saw yesterday that work is well underway with extending Berry Brow station platform, along with the engineering compound at Honley which is trapping a number of vehicles in Yorkshire Tiger's "bus graveyard".

 

[B Box]

Is this Project the first stage in Electrification of Manchester to Leeds/ York / Selby ?
A Project to accurately quantify the scope/feasibility in order to avoid cost overruns ?
Or to get the detail in order to decide how to proceed at all ?


https://cdn.networkrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Survey-Work.pdf

 

[Class 170101]

Surely it would be easier to serve Brighouse and bus to there rather than the temporary station st Hillhouse?

 

[SuperNova]

Surely it would be easier to serve Brighouse and bus to there rather than the temporary station st Hillhouse?

Only 2 service an hour will be able to run via Brighouse which will be express. Where do you terminate the stopping service between Huddersfield and Leeds? At peak time Brighouse is a nightmare traffic wise as well.

A station at Hillhouse would enable better connectivity for people who use the train from Huddersfield than Brighouse. The rail replacement bus would take little time too which is more beneficial to those commuting by rail.

 

[Glenn1969]

Am I right in saying there is still no start date and it cold be as late as 2022?

 

[SuperNova]

Am I right in saying there is still no start date and it cold be as late as 2022?

You are spot on. Still not signed off by the DfT yet - although Schapps said it was going to happen on BBC Breakfast a few weeks ago - lets see if he's a man of his word.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Surely it would be easier to serve Brighouse and bus to there rather than the temporary station st Hillhouse?

Only 2 service an hour will be able to run via Brighouse which will be express. Where do you terminate the stopping service between Huddersfield and Leeds? At peak time Brighouse is a nightmare traffic wise as well.

A station at Hillhouse would enable better connectivity for people who use the train from Huddersfield than Brighouse. The rail replacement bus would take little time too which is more beneficial to those commuting by rail.

I think the assumption is that services that don't call at the temporary station will call at Brighouse, as some TPE services do on diversion at present. Hence the stopping boards for 68+Mk5a sets at BGH.

 

[NorthernSpirit]

My understanding at present (take with a plethora of salt) is:

• A temporary station with RRB transfer will be built at Hillhouse, and this will be Huddersfield's primary railhead for the duration of the upgrade works.
• Sheffield services will continue to run into the existing station, with bus replacement from Lockwood when a full blockade is required.
• TPE services will divert via Calder Valley, with some serving the temporary station at Hillhouse via the Bradley curve and others omitting HUD entirely.
• Platforms "9 and 10" will be added as part of the upgrade. I've put it in quotation marks as the platforms will probably be renumbered. These will be permanent.

It may well be that the new platforms will be added first, but any platforms on that site will be of limited use until the rest of the work is done: they'd be no good for westbound services for one thing, and Northern need the sidings at the moment so replacements would have to be installed somewhere not too far off.

P.S. On an unrelated note, I saw yesterday that work is well underway with extending Berry Brow station platform, along with the engineering compound at Honley which is trapping a number of vehicles in Yorkshire Tiger's "bus graveyard".

Surely it would be easier to serve Brighouse and bus to there rather than the temporary station at Hillhouse?

Makes sense to, what with Brighouse being located on the A641 with direct access to both Halifax (via Ludenscheid Link) and Huddersfield. Services can then run direct to Leeds and beyond as well as via Wakefield as the line will no doubt be extremely busy.

A few questions that I will raise in connection with the CP6 works.

• Will the temporary Hillhouse railway station (Huddersfield North* would have been a better name to be honest) be staffed?
  
• How many platforms would be built?
  
• Where exactly will it be located at Hillhouse?
  
• Will Brighouse be staffed during the works as its likely that the station will see a higher percentage of people using it?
  
• What's happening with the Marsden services, will these be temporarily bolted onto the Sheffield's or will another temporary station be required at Paddock?

* Huddersfield East if needs be.

 

[Class 170101]

Only 2 service an hour will be able to run via Brighouse which will be express. Where do you terminate the stopping service between Huddersfield and Leeds? At peak time Brighouse is a nightmare traffic wise as well.

A station at Hillhouse would enable better connectivity for people who use the train from Huddersfield than Brighouse. The rail replacement bus would take little time too which is more beneficial to those commuting by rail.

Surely services would be diverted from Huddersfield will also be diverted from the Halifax direction too. Perhaps divert that to Leeds or Wakefield.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I'll give my understanding of the Hillhouse proposal as it has been relayed to me. It is however only one possible solution as to how Huddersfield is served during the upgrade. I'm unable to reveal my source for this information unfortunately.

Hillhouse is the proposed location for the temporary station but is unlikely to be named Hillhouse. As suggested above Huddersfield East or similar would be more appropriate, and more likely. I'm not sure of the exact location(s?) being considered, but I believe it is somewhere around the site of the old steam shed.

Use of Deighton as a bus-transfer station for Huddersfield (which may seem at first glance to be a smart cheaper option) has been ruled out due to access issues for the buses.

Locals West of Huddersfield will probably be able to continue to serve HUD most of the time, with bus replacement at certain times as and when necessary. The work required that side of the station is not as troublesome in terms of heavy engineering:- no viaducts to rebuild!

 

[SuperNova]

I think the assumption is that services that don't call at the temporary station will call at Brighouse, as some TPE services do on diversion at present. Hence the stopping boards for 68+Mk5a sets at BGH.

I was talking about the TPE stopping service. Given the express services running via Brighouse along with GC, freight and Northern's stopper there's not much capacity at Brighouse for the TPE stopper to terminate.

 

[Blockman]

Sorry to bring up something from the deep past, but it seems like the right thread to ask - how true is this and where can I find a source?

Old hands like me can remember it of course, but here is a link to an online sectional appendix which proves it:http://www.britishrailways1960.co.uk/NERS53.html

There is information available from the Signalling Record Society, specifically Volume 49 of the Swift Collection: https://s-r-s.org.uk/Bookstall/index.php?route=product/category&path=59_60&page=2 This is available in hard copy as well as a CD/DVD.

There's a photo of Horbury Junction box showing the four-track arrangement here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/24041160@N02/3224799459/sizes/l/ and the current track layout here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/llang...T-4z5B5r-6ayN72-2hwwW27-e1mAJe-23Tp9Dx-S6xkH2

Trains Illustrated in October 1960 had an article "Traffic Regulation in the Horbury - Thornhill area of the NER" by Tony Ross which described the considerable traffic flows at that time, and had a diagram of the relevant part of the route showing the four tracks, as well as several interesting photos of the time.

 

[AndrewE]

I was talking about the TPE stopping service. Given the express services running via Brighouse along with GC, freight and Northern's stopper there's not much capacity at Brighouse for the TPE stopper to terminate.

What a shame we can't send the freights via Colne and Skipton to free up a few paths...

 

[Tim_UK]

Makes sense to, what with Brighouse being located on the A641 with direct access to both Halifax (via Ludenscheid Link) and Huddersfield. Services can then run direct to Leeds and beyond as well as via Wakefield as the line will no doubt be extremely busy.

A few questions that I will raise in connection with the CP6 works.

• Where exactly will it be located at Hillhouse?

(from local knowledge only)

Hilllhouse - there is the large old goods yard. It is on the consultation documents shown as a site compound and still owned by network rail. (only source I've seen for a Hillhouse station is on here)

Brighouse. Um, not a lot of room for parking. Existing parking always full and a lot of on street around. And you never want to drive through Brighouse at a busy time of day (it is a pinch point for bridges over the river and canal). Extra services would be better than nothing. But um. I believe the signal blocks here also really long.

 

[NorthernSpirit]

I was talking about the TPE stopping service. Given the express services running via Brighouse along with GC, freight and Northern's stopper there's not much capacity at Brighouse for the TPE stopper to terminate.

The headway through Brighouse is four minutes, in effect you could have an ultra frequent service by running trains through and stopping every five minutes including Northern's and Grand Central's. As for using Brighouse as a turnback, you'd need to use Bradley Wood Junction where you'd need a pilotman, from there running wrong line to Brighouse before switching ends to run back to Wakefield or Leeds, might as well continue to Halifax and turnback there as per the current Halifax to Hull services.

What's the chance that TPE will divert some services to run via Wakefield, both for route retention as well as to cater for the Wakefield stoppers? As Hillhouse (Huddersfield North) would only be able to handle a small number of services considering that its both twin track (unless it'll go down to single with the temporary platform being built on the other) and its only use will almost certainly be the stoppers, everything else is diverted via Brighouse and the Calder Valley.

As with Mirfield, what's the chance that platform three will be retained in the short terms so that services from both Leeds and Wakefield can still get through?

 

[Grumpy]

Rather than build a temporary station at Hillhouse,which will have no long term benefit, why not build a temporary station at Elland-and leave it there?

 

[Glenn1969]

Know Elland station is in the works for 2021 or 2022 (I think). I agree it would make for a reasonably short bus to Hudds

 

[SuperNova]

Surely services would be diverted from Huddersfield will also be diverted from the Halifax direction too. Perhaps divert that to Leeds or Wakefield.

Sincerely doubt that given route knowledge. More likely a service would divert via Wakefield Kirkgate through Sheffield and the Hope Valley to Manchester as happened when there was a block a while back. Upcoming Hope Valley block will also see Man Pic - Huddersfield stoppers carry on to Sheffield via Wakefield Kirkgate

 

[Class 170101]

Sincerely doubt that given route knowledge. More likely a service would divert via Wakefield Kirkgate through Sheffield and the Hope Valley to Manchester as happened when there was a block a while back. Upcoming Hope Valley block will also see Man Pic - Huddersfield stoppers carry on to Sheffield via Wakefield Kirkgate

Sorry was thinking more about Northern doing this.

 

[Tim_UK]

P.S. If you cast your minds back to the 2000s, and the proposed extra stock for the North that never happened: the site at Hillhouse was mooted as a location for a small depot to maintain said stock.

There is loads of space there. Business use, but looks like mainly yard and parking. Stuff you could move.

 

[59CosG95]

Some news for Church Fenton...
https://www.networkrailmediacentre....to-find-out-about-work-to-improve-the-railway

Network Rail is inviting residents in Ulleskelf and Church Fenton to find out more about work which is taking place to improve the railway between York and Church Fenton.

In preparation for the Transpennine Upgrade, Network Rail will carry out improvements to the track in this area, as well as an upgrade to the signalling system. This will help to create a more reliable and resilient railway for passengers.

Major work will also take place to fully electrify the line between York and Church Fenton. The line is already partially electrified and fully electrifying this portion of the route will pave the way for an eco-friendlier railway, enabling bi-mode trains – trains which run on both diesel and electric power – to run under electric power on this part of the railway.

These improvements mean there will be an increase in the amount of work taking place on the railway. Most of this will take place at night and during weekends, when fewer trains are running.

To allow people to find out more about the work, Network Rail is holding two public information events. These will take place on:

• Thursday, 20 February between 16:00 and 19:00 at Ulleskelf Village Hall
• Tuesday, 25 February between 16:00 and 19:00 at Church Fenton Village Hall.

People will have the opportunity to see the plans and Network Rail workers will be on hand to answer any questions which residents may have.

Chris Montgomery, Major Programme Director for Network Rail, said: “This is a really exciting time for the railway, and we hope that people come along to these information events to find out more about this vital work.

“The work between York and Church Fenton is really important and is essential to create a railway with improved reliability and quicker journey times.

“An improvement project on this scale does mean that more work will be taking place in this area and we would like to reassure all residents that we are making every effort to keep disruption to a minimum.”

The major improvements on the line will be taking place between now and 2022, in preparation for the Transpennine Upgrade. The proposed project will bring more trains, faster journeys and a more reliable railway between Manchester and York via Huddersfield and Leeds.

 

[jonesy3001]

Is that the unelectrified bit between leeds and york from Neville hill junction next to the depot in leeds?