Transpennine Route Upgrade and Electrification updates

[61653 HTAFC]

I'm assuming a second deck went on Red Doles Bridge yesterday as the footpath under the bridge over the canal was closed off yesterday much to the chagrin of a lot of football fans yesterday, leaving us with a long walk round to the stadium. There was a huge crane there and although I didn't close enough to see as we walked on Alder Street I'm guessing that was what was going on.

Better signage around some of the closures would definitely help. I only knew about that closure because it was mentioned on here. I'm only aware of a few people (yourself and myself included) who both watch Huddersfield Town and frequent this website. There's been next to no publicity outside of railway-specific sources.

 

[Ploughman]

Press release

New leadership begins on TRU West Alliance

Pete Sollitt has started as Managing Director of TRU West Alliance, with a crucial year ahead on the route between Manchester and Leeds.

www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk

So A highly successful career history of working in major projects.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

I don’t want to appear picky but the press release says “ Key areas of the route will be double tracked”. I wasn’t aware there were any single tracked sections?

 

[Nottingham59]

I don’t want to appear picky but the press release says “ Key areas of the route will be double tracked”. I wasn’t aware there were any single tracked sections?

I assumed they meant quad-tracked. i.e. double the number they had before

 

[GRALISTAIR]

I assumed they meant quad-tracked. i.e. double the number they had before

Agreed. I assume they keep the announcement simple for the majority of people - not the pedant enthusiast like me!!!

 

[AndrewE]

Agreed. I assume they keep the announcement simple for the majority of people - not the pedant enthusiast like me!!!

Do they think that people couldn't understand "re-doubled?"

 

[snowball]

Do they think that people couldn't understand "re-doubled?"

Under my understanding of the word, redoubled means converting a formerly double-track, now single-track section back to double track. That doesn't apply here. Between Huddersfield and a point between Ravensthorpe and Dewsbury, a section of formerly quadruple track (now mostly double track with some triple) is being converted back to four tracks.

 

[AndrewE]

OK, so Quadrupled then.

 

[snowball]

Normally doubling something means making it twice as big, and quadrupling it means making it four times as big, but in terms of widening a railway the meanings are different. So converting two tracks to four would normally be called quadrupling on the railway. A lay person might well get confused.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

I suppose we must credit Rishi Sunak for freeing up the new TRU West MD from a similar position working on HS2 Phase 2a.
TRU/NPR should progress faster as a result.

Indeed and they need to reallocate some of the phase 2A budget to TRU so they can accelerate the works.

 

[takno]

Indeed and they need to reallocate some of the phase 2A budget to TRU so they can accelerate the works.

Spending on phase 2a wasnt scheduled to start for another 5 years or something. You're not going to speed anything up with it.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I don’t want to appear picky but the press release says “ Key areas of the route will be double tracked”. I wasn’t aware there were any single tracked sections?

Depends on your definition I suppose. From a point of view of managing worksites, the two sections of the up and down lines at Heaton Lodge junction could be viewed as single once they diverge from the Calder Valley route towards Brighouse.

 

[duffield]

Normally doubling something means making it twice as big, and quadrupling it means making it four times as big, but in terms of widening a railway the meanings are different. So converting two tracks to four would normally be called quadrupling on the railway. A lay person might well get confused.

The term "re-quadrification" seemed quite popular when Filton Bank was restored to four tracks a few years ago, personally I prefer it.

 

[snowball]

Spending on phase 2a wasnt scheduled to start for another 5 years or something. You're not going to speed anything up with it.

Are you thinking of 2b? Preparatory work on the ground for 2a, at some sites, started quite a long time ago. I thought the main civils contract was due to be awarded this year until it was cancelled.

 

[AndyHudds]

Better signage around some of the closures would definitely help. I only knew about that closure because it was mentioned on here. I'm only aware of a few people (yourself and myself included) who both watch Huddersfield Town and frequent this website. There's been next to no publicity outside of railway-specific sources.

I agree, if they had erected a notice in the area it must have been small as I hadn't noticed it. Even if they had let the club know who could have bobbed it on the club website, would have been something. I notice someone had mentioned it up thread but I hadn't seen it.

 

[snowball]

I can't find it now, but I read something about Mossley station moving eastwards towards the Huddersfield direction. This allows platforms to be lengthened (both up and down), plus with a long neutral section adjacent to the terraced houses, allows departing trains to get a bit of speed up before power has to be shut off.

Has any official statement been made on the matter mentioned above since that posting was made some time ago?

It has now! (as Kenneth Wolstenholme almost said in 1966)

Press release

Mossley to welcome fully accessible rail station for first time

For the first time since its opening in 1849, passengers are set to have a fully accessible rail station in Mossley, Greater Manchester.

www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk

For the first time since its opening in 1849, passengers are set to have a fully accessible rail station in Mossley, Greater Manchester.

The Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) has outlined its proposal to relocate Mossley station. The proposals include an accessible footbridge with lifts, extended platforms to support longer trains allowing more seats for passengers, and full electrification of the route through the town for cleaner, faster journeys.

Located around 300m east of its current site, the relocated Mossley station is set to be completed by the end of the decade as part of the multi-billion-pound TRU project between Manchester and York, bringing cleaner, greener and better travel along the route.

Jonathan Reynolds MP said: “I am delighted we are finally getting the new Mossley station we deserve. Alongside the Mossley councillors, I have long campaigned for an accessible station, and I am thrilled that it is coming to fruition at last.

“These plans represent not a piecemeal solution but a transformative one, which will see Mossley thrive as a place that people can more reliably and inclusively rely on the rail network for work, study and leisure.

“Naturally there may be some local disruption whilst works take place, but please bear with this. The long-term economic benefits will be considerable and help make Mossley a brilliant place to live.”

The existing Mossley Station site will have historical elements retained, including the station building. The car park will remain in operation to tackle potential overflow from the new station.

TRU will engage with local residents and businesses through a public consultation later in the year to discuss plans for both the existing site and the new station.

Since they talk about moving the station 300m eastward, when the railway through the station runs due N-S, I assume they are moving the station away from the railway.

(This is a variant of an old joke: "Why didn't you put Dent station nearer the village?" "I considered it more important that it should be near the railway.")

 

[edwin_m]

Since they talk about moving the station 300m eastward, when the railway through the station runs due N-S, I assume they are moving the station away from the railway.

(This is a variant of an old joke: "Why didn't you put Dent station nearer the village?" "I considered it more important that it should be near the railway.")

The old Micklehurst station wasn't much more than 300m east from Mossley station - hope they aren't thinking of re-opening that...

But more likely that the project is just using "railway directions" where anything towards Leeds is east, regardless of the actual orientation of that bit of line.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

The old Micklehurst station wasn't much more than 300m east from Mossley station - hope they aren't thinking of re-opening that...

But more likely that the project is just using "railway directions" where anything towards Leeds is east, regardless of the actual orientation of that bit of line.

The Micklehurst loop line with its four stations and the tunnel from the Uppermill area to Diggle was situated on the other side of the valley from the main line was mainly used as a freight avoiding line, with the passenger stations all closed about the time that the First World War ended. Large pieces of infrastructure in the Greenfield area are now long gone.

 

[Geeves]

Since they talk about moving the station 300m eastward, when the railway through the station runs due N-S, I assume they are moving the station away from the railway.

Anything traveling towards Leeds leaving Victoria is considered as traveling "east" even if the lines are not going in that direction (all the time). I guess they could've just said "300m in the Huddersfield direction"

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Would "the locals" im Mossley feel that the location of the proposed relocated railway station will be more convenient for them?

 

[Tim_UK]

Would "the locals" im Mossley feel that the location of the proposed relocated railway station will be more convenient for them?

Mossley is really 2 places with 2 village centres. Top Mossley and Bottom Mossley. The current station is in Bottom Mossley.


With a footbridge and new footpath in the right place the new station will be logically better for Top Mossley and still in visible view from the existing station. 4 minutes extra walk on a straight road tops. An extra bonus would be a an off road footpath from the existing station car park to the new station.

If you could fit in a huge car park, bus turnaround and 4tph then the place would be lovely.

Also the road junction by the current station is poor. Moving the station might enable some improvements

 

[zwk500]

Mossley is really 2 places with 2 village centres. Top Mossley and Bottom Mossley. The current station is in Bottom Mossley.


With a footbridge and new footpath in the right place the new station will be logically better for Top Mossley and still in visible view from the existing station. 4 minutes extra walk on a straight road tops. An extra bonus would be a an off road footpath from the existing station car park to the new station.

300m 'eastwards' suggest it will be located at the existing access point on Manchester Road, https://maps.app.goo.gl/svHU2pHEMjEhUKmY8. An off-road footpath between the car parks should be fairly possible, also access to the eastbound platform from Stamford Road as part of the footbridge would be nice.

If you could fit in a huge car park, bus turnaround and 4tph then the place would be lovely.

Car park won't be huge - hence retaining existing station car park. Bus turnround would be tight although not impossible.

Also the road junction by the current station is poor. Moving the station might enable some improvements

Retention of the existing car park suggest any change to the road junction is going to be minor at best.

Sorry to be a bit of a downer on this!

 

[edwin_m]

Alternatively, it could be at the next road crossing northwards, which is about 300m from the north end of the platforms. This would allow access to Top Mossley via several existing roads and a footpath.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

It is very many years since I was in Mossley and can I ask if the steep road leading down from Top Mossley meets the through road in the area of the railway station at present.

 

[AndrewE]

Alternatively, it could be at the next road crossing northwards, which is about 300m from the north end of the platforms. This would allow access to Top Mossley via several existing roads and a footpath.

and a very steep climb - it felt like it last December! Something like 50 metres in 600 (horizontal) distance? The main road down to the current station is pretty steep by road standards too.

 

[yorksrob]

I see that as well as TPE being up the spout today, the lines North West from Man Vic are also closed at the same time.

This will be fun.

 

[Meerkat]

Is the station being moved so they can track lower through the tricky bit of Mossley?

 

[AndrewE]

Is the station being moved so they can track lower through the tricky bit of Mossley?

I think it is so that they can have a long neutral section past the houses which are too close... Moving the station further away makes it easier for a train to coast through after it has started off not many yards beforehand.

 

[TBY-Paul]

Is the station being moved so they can track lower through the tricky bit of Mossley?

Interesting question, just out of curiosity, how far could the track be safely lowered? And would it assist in electrifying the full section through Moseley?

 

[snowball]

Interesting question, just out of curiosity, how far could the track be safely lowered? And would it assist in electrifying the full section through Moseley?

I'm not sure it would help. Might it bring the wires closer to the level of people's front doors? And might it worsen an already steep line gradient?