Author Topic: TransPennine train disruption looming  (Read 455 times)

celeste

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TransPennine train disruption looming
« on: 20:14:33, 13/09/18 »
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-45509972


Services across the Pennine rail route would be seriously affected by the planned works

Passengers on TransPennine trains will face five years of major disruption during a planned £2.9bn upgrade of the route, a leaked letter has revealed.

The letter from Network Rail to Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said there would be line closures for 39 weeks a year from 2020 until 2024.

The project would eventually cut journey times between York, Leeds and Manchester and boost capacity.

The Department for Transport (DfT) said it would keep disruption to a minimum.

The letter from Rob McIntosh at Network Rail, says the route is "a Victorian construction that passes through the heart of the Pennines with its inherently challenging topography".




The minister is warned that access to the many tunnels and bridges along the routes "will be limited and difficult".

Mr McIntosh says: "This level of ambition cannot be delivered without significant disruption during the course of the works."

During the upgrade work journey times would increase by 15 to 25 minutes and "constrain capacity".

"We have considered ways in which we might deliver the work to shorter timescales," said Mr McIntosh.

"Our judgement is that this will increase costs and lead to levels of disruption that stakeholders would find unacceptable and are potentially damaging to the local economy."
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