Transpennine Route Upgrade and Electrification updates

[3RDGEN]

Yeah, I can see the error in my thinking now- I don't travel West of Huddersfield much, so didn't consider the implications at that end of the station, not least because the third track is still further from happening than the changes in the north/easterly direction.

I'd be wary of running the Leeds stopper through to Manchester though, as that prevents it being an EMU until the wires go up over the hills. It also didn't work particularly well back in 2018, though that was on the existing layout with less opportunities for overtaking.

That maybe the reasoning for the extension of the stopper to Wakefield/York as that route will be diesel for some time yet.

 

[GardenRail]

This thread has got massively long. What's the plans for Huddersfield going West towards Marsden. Anything?

 

[61653 HTAFC]

This thread has got massively long. What's the plans for Huddersfield going West towards Marsden. Anything?

It's a bit further back along the planning stage, with the current proposals being a third track used in a "tidal flow" manner. The route was previously four track, but restoring that in full would reduce linespeeds and clearances for modern stock too much. The "will they/won't they" over Northern Powerhouse Rail and idea of a new tunnel between Manchester and Huddersfield complicates things a bit, as does the idea of NPR/High Speed Three serving Bradford (or not).

Huddersfield to Stalybridge was always going to be the last section of the route to be upgraded due to the difficulties of putting wires through the tunnel just East of Stalybridge (which i think is called Scout Tunnel but I'm not 100% on that).

 

[snowball]

Huddersfield to Stalybridge was always going to be the last section of the route to be upgraded due to the difficulties of putting wires through the tunnel just East of Stalybridge (which i think is called Scout Tunnel but I'm not 100% on that).

That tunnel is called Stalybridge tunnel. Scout tunnel is about a mile and a half further "east" (actually more like north), near Mossley. Another very difficult section, also at Mossley and discussed several times upthread, is where there is a row of houses very close to the track.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

That tunnel is called Stalybridge tunnel. Scout tunnel is about a mile and a half further "east" (actually more like north), near Mossley. Another very difficult section, also at Mossley and discussed several times upthread, is where there is a row of houses very close to the track.

Cheers for the correction, I'm less familiar with things over on the dark side!

 

[GardenRail]

It's a bit further back along the planning stage, with the current proposals being a third track used in a "tidal flow" manner. The route was previously four track, but restoring that in full would reduce linespeeds and clearances for modern stock too much. The "will they/won't they" over Northern Powerhouse Rail and idea of a new tunnel between Manchester and Huddersfield complicates things a bit, as does the idea of NPR/High Speed Three serving Bradford (or not).

Huddersfield to Stalybridge was always going to be the last section of the route to be upgraded due to the difficulties of putting wires through the tunnel just East of Stalybridge (which i think is called Scout Tunnel but I'm not 100% on that).

Thanks for the comprehensive answer. Much appreciated.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Thanks for the comprehensive answer. Much appreciated.

I wouldn't say my answer was "comprehensive" exactly. As the post by @snowball shows, I neglected to mention the problem houses near Mossley, which are potentially a tougher problem to solve than Stalybridge tunnel which is a known quantity (plenty of other tunnels with limited clearances have been electrified with the help of track lowering), albeit an expensive one.

There has been discussion on this thread in the past (and, I think, in other threads) about potential solutions to the Mossley houses conundrum, but as this thread is now rather long-running I can't recall what the consensus was. A neutral section on the wires could work, but as the location is close to Mossley Station this might present a problem for westbound stopping services departing Mossley.

 

[CAF397]

I can't find it now, but I read something about Mossley station moving eastwards towards the Huddersfield direction. This allows platforms to be lengthened (both up and down), plus with a long neutral section adjacent to the terraced houses, allows departing trains to get a bit of speed up before power has to be shut off.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

I can't find it now, but I read something about Mossley station moving eastwards towards the Huddersfield direction. This allows platforms to be lengthened (both up and down), plus with a long neutral section adjacent to the terraced houses, allows departing trains to get a bit of speed up before power has to be shut off.

I seem to recall seeing that document too but cant find it at the moment.

 

[stibz]

This picture is from Ravensthorpe station platform, you can see the shadow of the road bridge, that will be demolished, the new station is going to be in this shot, the bridge in distance is like 400yds away. The loco roughly when the new station will be, the extra track to fit in too, so there will be some realignment happening, no guessing there lol.

Lines

60079 on 6E32 14.8.14

flic.kr

 

[billio]

A large compound has appeared in a field next to the railway bridge over the A162 between Barkston Ash and Sherburn in Elmet. Is this anything to do with Trans Pennine Upgrade ?

 

[59CosG95]

A large compound has appeared in a field next to the railway bridge over the A162 between Barkston Ash and Sherburn in Elmet. Is this anything to do with Trans Pennine Upgrade ?

Might be early enabling works for it.

Murphys still have a compound at Garforth for the replacement footbridge IIRC.

 

[yorkie]

This thread has got massively long. .

True. To a great extent this is unavoidable but can I just remind people to keep this thread concise by sticking to actual infrastructure updates please.

Anything else, such as potential timetable/service pattern changes, is best posted in a separate thread. Thanks!

 

[CAF397]

There's a few posts on the SL, yes Stalybridge to Leeds as the signals are plated for the route now rather than boxes. The boundary between Manchester and York ROC is just west of the current west end of Diggle Loop which goes into York ROC Huddersfield workstation

Why did resignalling on LNE result in geographical signal plates (SL), but resignalling on LNW - Stalybridge - followed the controlling signalling panel (MN - Manchester North W/S in Manchester ROC).

 

[YorkshireBear]

A large compound has appeared in a field next to the railway bridge over the A162 between Barkston Ash and Sherburn in Elmet. Is this anything to do with Trans Pennine Upgrade ?

As it is adjacent to an underbridge I suspect it is just a structures scheme. But I commute that way everyday so I'll keep an eye out.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Visiting Stalybridge today, there's still a fair bit of work to do at the east end of the station before wiring can start. Very few cantilevers up yet, though all the masts are in place including the terminal ones for P2/5 bays.
There are still two big bases to the east of the platforms with nothing on them
On the Guide Bridge route, steelwork still seems absent on the Tame viaduct, but wiring is in place to the east, and cantilevers to the west.
Masts are plated in metric on the Guide Bridge branch (prefix MS) - the lowest one I saw was MS 08 03 at GB West Jn.
Old OHLE Ardwick-Guide Bridge is plated MH with mileages - very difficult to see any with the portal masts mostly in the undergrowth.

Edit:
Couple of pictures from 11 July, east and west ends of Stalybridge station.
Taken mainly to show what work is still to be done before the wires go up.

 

[snowball]

Article on TRU in Rail Engineer. Haven't read it yet.

Transpennine Upgrade: still stepping ahead - Rail Engineer

Listen to this article Rail Engineer last reported on the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) in Issue 192 (Sept/Oct 2021). The article, Major step forward – Transpennine Upgrade, covered the early works to upgrade the whole 70-mile route between Manchester and York, via Huddersfield and Leeds. The...

www.railengineer.co.uk

The programme is progressing to plan, and we recently met up with Hannah Lomas, industry programme director TRU and David Lawrance technical director and chief engineer TRU, to learn more about the important work to improve train services between Manchester and York.

TRU is a multi-billion-pound, transformative, long-term railway infrastructure programme to improve connectivity for both passenger and freight services, and to support economic growth in the north. The programme also employs a number of innovative engineering techniques to increase efficiency and save costs. Transpennine is a busy, challenging route through built up areas, with difficult access. Very few work sites are on flat land and the geology is interesting as it goes through areas where rock is shallow and follows river valleys up and down the Pennines. The route serves 23 stations, crosses over and under dozens of bridges and viaducts, passes through six miles of tunnels, and over 29 level crossings. It also goes through areas with a history of mining.

Edit: have read it now. It mentions Summit Tunnel, which is on a different route, and it says the TWAO was approved autumn 2022 (actually June).

 

[Grumpy]

Article on TRU in Rail Engineer. Haven't read it yet.

Transpennine Upgrade: still stepping ahead - Rail Engineer

Listen to this article Rail Engineer last reported on the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) in Issue 192 (Sept/Oct 2021). The article, Major step forward – Transpennine Upgrade, covered the early works to upgrade the whole 70-mile route between Manchester and York, via Huddersfield and Leeds. The...

www.railengineer.co.uk

Edit: have read it now. It mentions Summit Tunnel, which is on a different route, and it says the TWAO was approved autumn 2022 (actually June).

Nice read but feels like several old press releases warmed up, rather than investigative journalism.
We have the comment "Project W3 is a very large project within the TRU programme and concerns the section between Huddersfield and Ravensthorpe to increase capacity, as this is where many local and freight trains cross. W3 will double the number of tracks from two to four between Huddersfield and Westtown (Dewsbury), with grade separation at Ravensthorpe." Looking at Realtime Trains today between 0700 and 20.00 there seem to be 3 eastbound freight trains between Thornhill and Heaton Lodge. Hardly seems to be "many".

Has anything been published as to what additional freight is going to go via Diggle to justify all this? Most UK railfreight seems to comprise quarry traffic, containers from Felixtowe -Southampton ports, Waste and (locally ) woodchip to Drax. I just cant see where this extra freight is coming from.

 

[Geeves]

That's great news on the Calder Valley that the Summit tunnel is potentially viable now with new technologies. Also it states that full wiring between Manchester and York is the final outcome of the project rather than intermittent wiring as had been debated in the past. That means potentially 350s with no homes could replace 185s on some work now.

 

[jonesy3001]

Isn't the summit tunnel on the rochdale line?
Don't they mean the standedge tunnel?

 

[WAO]

Must mean Standedge not Summit, as L&Y route electrification is not in the frame.

The other point of interest I note is the statement that trains could consist of "8 x 24m", suggesting 810's?

Common(ish) stock possible with nearby routes?

WAO

 

[snowball]

Isn't the summit tunnel on the rochdale line?

Yes, as I remarked at the end of #6917.

Don't they mean the standedge tunnel?

Maybe. Standedge is at the summit of the line and is the one that people have most often claimed over the years in this forum as a particular difficulty, not citing specific evidence. But I suspect it actually means Stalybridge tunnel, which was mentioned a year or two ago somewhere (possibly in Modern Railways) as the biggest difficulty.

There are four tunnels in the area with similar names: Summit on the wrong line, and Standedge, Stalybridge and Scout on the right one.

 

[43095john]

Leeds - Church Fenton Update:

Garforth - The old NER Footbridge has now been closed off with the Temporary footbridge now open for use. Small areas around the old footbridge have now been closed/boarded off whilst preparation works start for its removal

Cross Gates - The ongoing midweek overnight blocks of the line appear the have been focused on a site just east of the Platforms, looked like a piling machine was in use on the night of 5th/6th July, not seen any visible changes yet whilst passing through the area. Possibly first preparation works for next stage?

Barkston Ash (A162 Compound) - No further activity so far, passed it last night and just a fenced off area for now

Theres further overnight midweek blocks coming up (Mon-Thurs Line Closed 2200-0500 with buses/Castleford Diversions in place)

 

[CrickUK]

Cross Gates - The ongoing midweek overnight blocks of the line appear the have been focused on a site just east of the Platforms, looked like a piling machine was in use on the night of 5th/6th July, not seen any visible changes yet whilst passing through the area. Possibly first preparation works for next stage?

Rig set up in the space between the two lines at Cross gates would appear to be undertaking bore hole investigation work probably associated with piling for electrification gantries. I have noticed similar investigation going on at various location between Garforth and Neville Hill, including quite some distance outside the railway boundary in the vicinity of the M1 overbridge.

 

[59CosG95]

Rig set up in the space between the two lines at Cross gates would appear to be undertaking bore hole investigation work probably associated with piling for electrification gantries. I have noticed similar investigation going on at various location between Garforth and Neville Hill, including quite some distance outside the railway boundary in the vicinity of the M1 overbridge.

It could also be for potential mine investigation; if any voids are found, they'll need to be grouted up.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Just had an unusual crawl through Colton Jcn on an LNER and difficult to see that much more needs doing here yet we are told wont be available for electric traffic till Dec 24? Main thing looks like completing a TSC and perhaps splicing in new neutral/section insulators?

 

[59CosG95]

Just had an unusual crawl through Colton Jcn on an LNER and difficult to see that much more needs doing here yet we are told wont be available for electric traffic till Dec 24? Main thing looks like completing a TSC and perhaps splicing in new neutral/section insulators?

The main TRU wire runs are complete to the 4 anchors at the point where the legacy ECML wire runs are now anchored. New anchors have been put in further towards York, but the wire runs that will be anchored there haven't yet been run through Colton Junction CWNS (Carrier Wire Neutral Section).

This grossly simplified diagram shows what the current situation is around the CWNS:

 

[GRALISTAIR]

I still think it strange they need two possessions to do it. December 2023 this year and December 2024 next year iirc

 

[Halish Railway]

I still think it strange they need two possessions to do it. December 2023 this year and December 2024 next year iirc

Wasn’t it put down to a lack of resources in the industry or the difficulty in organising a blockade at an earlier date?

 

[greyman42]

Just had an unusual crawl through Colton Jcn on an LNER and difficult to see that much more needs doing here yet we are told wont be available for electric traffic till Dec 24? Main thing looks like completing a TSC and perhaps splicing in new neutral/section insulators?

What was the reason for having to crawl? I am not aware that crawling along this section is the norm.