Transpennine Route Upgrade team thanks passengers for their patience after five days of major work in Dewsbury and Morley

Over the five-day period, engineers upgraded drainage, completed cabling work and installed a new telecommunications mast.

The weekends of February 17 and 18 and February 24 and 25 also saw a range of upgrades, as teams in Huddersfield installed a new railway bridge and undertook mining mitigation work. This is a key part of the programme and will allow for the development of Huddersfield Station in the future.

A spokesperson said the completed work “brings passengers one step closer to faster, greener and more reliable trains” between Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds and York.

Jonathan Hepton, sponsor on the Transpennine Route Upgrade, said: “We’d like to thank customers who travelled during the recent upgrade work for their patience and understanding.

“This work was essential for the progress being made not only on the railway between Huddersfield and Leeds, but the wider route.

“We appreciate that there is no ideal time to make changes to train services that run on a daily basis, but by working closely with both Northern and TransPennine Express, we managed to keep passengers on the move.”

To allow the work to take place, a section of the railway line was closed for the five-day period, which meant that diversionary routes and rail replacement buses were used.

Last week’s upgrades were another step forward for the TRU, the multi-billion-pound railway programme that the spokesperson said will transform journeys across the Pennines.