TRU complete track renewals between Colton Junction and Church Fenton

"This achievement wouldn’t have been possible without the support of all the disciplines involved, and I thank everyone for their efforts.”

The Transpennine main line serves 23 stations, crosses over and dips under dozens of bridges and viaducts, passes through six miles of tunnels, and crosses over 29 level crossings. Once complete, this stretch of rail will transform into a high-performing, reliable railway, which will bring better (more frequent, more sustainable, reliable and faster) journeys to passengers travelling across the Pennines.

This five mile stretch of track is one of the busiest sections of railway in the North, and a major junction where trains from Leeds meet the East Coast Main Line towards York and where over 250 freight or passenger trains pass through each day, around every five minutes.

This milestone was completed over series of Sundays (29 hours in total) to keep passenger disruption to a minimum. Works have included the replacement of ballast, sleepers, and rail - resulting in 13,790 yards of new track installed.

This section of renewals forms part of the wider Transpennine Route Upgrade, a major, multi-billion-pound programme of railway improvements to the 70 mile Transpennine main line, which runs between Manchester and York, via Huddersfield and Leeds. TRU East is delivering the essential upgrades between Leeds and York.

Commenting, James Ramsden, TRU East delivery lead, said: “Our team has worked hard through some challenging circumstances to deliver this major milestone for the Alliance.