The restoration of Huddersfield’s existing trainshed station roof will now commence to preserve the structure, with this being one of the few remaining ‘Euston Roof’ examples on the operational railway today.
The town’s Grade I listed station is undergoing a full redesign with the construction of new and longer platforms, with additional track to enable more trains with extra seats to stop there.
The Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) has made significant progress with major rail improvements in Huddersfield as part of the multi-billion-pound project – a programme of works that will bring passengers faster, greener and more reliable trains between Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds and York.
Mining mitigation work has been completed throughout the area in recent months, whilst strengthening work has been undertaken to Huddersfield Viaduct in advance of new track being installed.
Work has also begun to carefully dismantle the station’s listed tearoom. This will be stored while the platform remodelling takes place, before being re-painted and reinstated at the station later on.
The TRU team will be working around the clock during several weekend line closures in August, with diversionary routes and rail replacement buses keeping passengers on the move.
Gareth Hope, Sponsor on the Transpennine Route Upgrade, said: “We’re delighted at the progress that’s being made in Huddersfield. This is a key focus point for TRU that will unlock many of the scheme’s benefits, including being able to run more trains on a more reliable railway line from Huddersfield to Manchester, Leeds and York.
“From the end of July, we will be starting a period of roof canopy repairs which will involve grit blasting, painting and steelwork. Passengers may have already noticed scaffolding being installed which will enable our team to work from a raised platform above the station to minimise disruption to train travel. We will also have noise monitoring and acoustic barriers in place to reduce noise from the work as much as possible.”
Chris Nutton, Major Projects and TRU Director at TransPennine Express, said: “It’s exciting to see the work that’s taking place at Huddersfield, with restoration works on the iconic roof set to commence, as colleagues from Network Rail continue to transform the iconic station.
“To accommodate the major upgrade works, the station will be closed on weekends between Saturday 3 August and Sunday 1 September, excluding the bank holiday weekend. While that work is happening, there will be some changes to our services, including diversions on some routes and rail replacement buses on others.
“We’d like to thank customers in advance for their patience and would advise them to check carefully before travelling. We’ll have extra staff on hand at stations to help people who are travelling on the weekends affected by this work.”
Kerry Peters, Regional Director for Northern Trains, said: “We’re grateful to all of our customers for their patience whilst work takes place in and around Huddersfield station. We’ve worked hard to keep people on trains throughout this work, however, with some trains replaced by buses, we’d advise customers to plan ahead and check before they travel.”
