Two-year station closure for rail upgrade works

A West Yorkshire railway station is to close for more than two years while an upgrade takes place.

Ravensthorpe station, near Dewsbury, will cease services so that it can be extended 650 feet (200m) further west as part of the TransPennine Route Upgrade (TRU), said Network Rail.

The entire project will see the line between York and Manchester modernised at a cost of £11bn to speed up services and allow more trains to operate.

Andrew Allright, from train operator Northern, said: "The work to upgrade Ravensthorpe, as well as the railway in the surrounding vicinity of the station is key to the overall modernisation of the railway across the Pennines."

Network Rail also said rail replacement bus services between Ravensthorpe and Dewsbury stations would be in operation throughout the closure, which will end in March 2028.

The new Ravensthorpe station will have lifts, a new forecourt, drop-off facilities and a longer island platform so longer trains will be able to stop.

A new four-track railway will also be built through the old station site so that faster trains will be able to overtake slower ones, which should help improve punctuality on the route.

Other work taking place as part of TRU means train services between Leeds and York and between Leeds and Selby being replaced by buses at various times from 27 December to 25 January 2026.

The full upgrade of the route is not expected to be finished until the early 2030s when the railway should be fully electrified and journey times between York and Manchester cut to 63 minutes.

Mr Allright added: "The work done as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade will not only deliver benefits locally to Ravensthorpe, but will also deliver a greener railway, as well as faster and more reliable services."

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