Travel disruptions for weekend passengers

NETWORK Rail electrification work is taking place during a programme of maintenance on the Huddersfield to Manchester line over ten Sundays ending on August 21.

SUNDAY train services to Manchester from Greenfield and Mossley stations have been withdrawn for ten weeks for maintenance work.

Network Rail says vital work to improve future train services between Manchester and Stalybridge will impact Sunday timetables until August 21 with replacement coaches taking passengers to Manchester Victoria and Manchester Piccadilly.

Other stations affected include Ashton, Stalybridge, Marsden, Slaithwaite and Huddersfield.

Passengers are advised to plan their journeys accordingly.

Network Rail engineers will replace tracks and improve drainage across the route as well as fit new cables near to Stalybridge tunnel, which will eventually connect to a new power supply for running electric trains, all as part of the Railway Upgrade Plan.

At Stalybridge station, which is operated by TransPennine Express, alterations will be made to the roof canopies to make room for electric wires.

Nick Brown, of Network Rail's Northern Programmes team, said: "We're advising people planning trips on these Sundays to check before they travel, so they know what to expect.

"In some instances buses will replace trains while our engineers carry out vital railway upgrades, paving the way for faster, greener, more frequent and more regular services.

"We would ask people to view the short-term pain of amended timetables against the long-term gain of a better-connected, more prosperous North of England."

A spokesperson from TPE said: "We appreciate the inconvenience this will cause to customers but the work taking place is key to improving the railway. The engineering upgrade will affect our Sunday services between Leeds and Manchester on our North route. Bus replacement services will be in operation between Huddersfield and Manchester Airport.

"We are asking customers to check before they travel and allow extra time when making their journeys."

The Northern Programmes is a £1 billion plus investment as part of Network Rail's Railway Upgrade Plan, which is improving and expanding the rail network to cater for a forecast doubling in demand for rail travel over the next two decades.