Six-month road closure for rail upgrade work

A road has been closed to traffic for six months as part of a major improvement of railway infrastructure.

The £11bn Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) will complete the electrification of the line between Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds and York.

A section of Thornhill Road in Dewsbury, which passes under the railway bridge, closed on 1 January and is shut until the end of June to allow utility diversions to be completed in the area. The route has remained open to pedestrians.

Network Rail said that despite the inconvenience, Dewsbury residents would benefit from faster and more reliable train services in future.

The closure of part of Fall Lane and an additional part of Thornhill Road is also planned from March to June 2025.

Jonathan Hepton, project sponsor for TRU, said: "Great progress is already being made in Dewsbury, as we look to improve the speed of services through the area."

He said the road closures were necessary "to facilitate the next series of upgrades".

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said signs and a diversion route would be in place while the work takes place.

In December 2023 the government pledged a further £3.9bn for the TRU project, which is expected to be completed in the 2030s, cutting journey times between Leeds and Manchester to about 42 minutes.

First announced in 2011, work began in December 2021 and is expected to cost well in excess of £10bn - one of the biggest rail upgrades in the country.

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