Transpennine Route Upgrade: Passengers advised to check before they travel as major work set to take place between Huddersfield and Leeds

Upgrades in the Morley area will include track drainage and cabling work, while engineers in Dewsbury will replace and enhance telecommunications networks, allowing for future signalling improvements.

Additionally, upgrades are taking place in Huddersfield this weekend as well as next, February 24 and 25.

In order for this work to be carried out while also keeping customers on the move, some trains will be diverted via different routes and others will be replaced by buses. Passengers can check www.nationalrailenquiries.co.uk to plan their journey ahead of time.

Jonathan Hepton, sponsor on the Transpennine Route Upgrade, said: “The works being carried out across the Morley, Batley and Dewsbury areas are an important step in the progress being made by the Transpennine Route Upgrade team.

"We’d like to extend our thanks to passengers for their understanding and would like to encourage them to plan ahead and check before they travel.”

The upgrades being carried out are part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU), a multi-billion-pound programme of railway upgrades that will enable faster, more reliable, greener services for customers travelling across the Pennines.

There will be changes to TransPennine Express services between Monday, February 19 and Friday, February 23, as follows:

Services between Huddersfield and Leeds will be diverted and will not run through Dewsbury.

Rail replacement bus services will replace services between Huddersfield, Dewsbury and Leeds.

Services from Hull will start/terminate at Leeds.

Services from Saltburn to Manchester Airport will start/terminate at Manchester Victoria.

Rail replacement buses will operate between Huddersfield and Manchester Airport via Stockport.

There will also be the following changes to Northern services:

Services between Leeds and Wigan via Brighouse will be diverted and will not run through Dewsbury.

Rail replacement bus services will run between Halifax, Brighouse, Dewsbury and Leeds.

Chris Nutton, major projects director at TransPennine Express, said: “The work around Morley and Dewsbury is essential for the delivery of more reliable services for our customers, as well as the delivery of the upgraded Morley station.

“We will be running an amended timetable on our North route while these improvement works are being carried out, diverting trains between Huddersfield and Leeds.

"Rail replacement buses will also be in place to keep customers on the move for more local journeys. We'd like to advise customers to check before they travel.”

A TRU spokesperson added: “These upgrades bring us one step closer to a better railway serving the new Morley station and at other locations in the Dewsbury and Batley area, with wider benefits across the entire Transpennine Route to create a cleaner, greener and more reliable railway that will bring improved connectivity and travel experiences to passengers travelling between Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds and York.”