£400m for Trans-pennine upgrade, Oxford remodelling and three new stations
IT WAS confirmed by Government on May 26 that £401m in funding for the next stage of the Transppennine Route Upgrade, remodelling at Oxford and three new stations had been agreed. Of the funds, £317m will go towards development of Network Rail’s Trans-pennine Route Upgrade programme to modernise the corridor between Leeds, Manchester and York.
Last July the Government awarded £589m for the first stage of the project, which allowed Network Rail to award contracts for the next phase of design and some early construction. This enabled work to support partial electrification at 25kv 50 Hz, an extra through platform at Huddersfield and 13km of four-tracking. The new award will permit the completion of enhancements and electrification between York and Church Fenton, and support development of the programme. This will include design work on line speed improvements, electrification of the Manchester to Stalybridge, Huddersfield to Leeds and Church Fenton to York sections of the route, as well as station works.
The project’s business case will be completed shortly and will consider full electrification, additional line speed improvements, further work at stations and provision for digital signalling, as well as gauge clearance and options to improve freight capability, especially for intermodal traffic.
Tim Wood, Interim Chief Executive at Transport for the North, said: “It’s great to see the next round of funding unlocked for major work on this route to commence at pace.” He added: “We still need clarity on the full proposal.” TFN believes that the ttrans-pennine route “should be wholly electrified and be fully gauge cleared W10/W12 to support the growth in freight movements from our northern ports”.
Railway Industry Association Chief Executive Darren Caplan added: “Our members will welcome the Government’s confirmation of further electrification work on the Trans-pennine route, and look forward to the green light for electrification of the whole route. We hope the announcement today is the start of an extensive programme to electrify lines around the country.” He went on to argue that “a rolling programme of cost-effective electrification – coupled with government support and fleet orders for hydrogen and battery trains – will be essential if the UK is to hit its goals of decarbonising rail by 2040 and securing Net Zero by 2050.”
The government also announced £69m to continue with the next stage of development of the Oxford Phase 2 remodelling project. This will include a new track and platform alongside Platform 4 that will create an island platform on the west side of the station. This will significantly improve station capacity from 2024 to accommodate new services, including East West Rail. Designs will be worked up for a western station entrance. There will also be changes to the road layout, with the road under Botley Road bridge lowered to accommodate standard double-decker buses and a cycle and footpath installed at each side. Elsewhere, the level crossings at Sandy Lane and Yarnton Lane will be closed, and three high speed crossovers will be installed at Oxford North Junction. The changes will enable the running of additional Oxford to Birmingham trains and reduce journey times by up to two minutes, as well as providing capacity to accommodate an additional 12 freight trains per day from the port of Southampton to the Midlands and northern England.
More funding is needed for the full implementation of the remodelling, and a business case is to be submitted to DFT later this year with a decision on final funding expected in spring 2022. £15m from the New Stations Fund has been announced for new stations at Marsh Barton in Exeter, White Rose between Leeds and Huddersfield, and Thorpe Park to the east of Leeds. The latter is planned for completion in 2024, providing access to Leeds city centre in fewer than ten minutes and York in fewer than 30.