On Tuesday the grey skies which have bedevilled us here in West Yorkshire took a day off, allowing me to get out with the camera and record progress on the Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade between Mirfield and Dewsbury.
Having caught a Northern service from Sowerby Bridge we joined the Trans-Pennine route at Bradley Wood Junction, where earthmoving continues in order to create space for the new Fast lines. I’ll visit here again soon. My first stop was at Mirfield, where progress is steady but slow. Work on the new footbridge and lifts continues, as does the rebuilding of the island platform which is gradually creeping West towards Huddersfield. The most noticeable change since my last visit is that a long length of the Down Huddersfield line through the old platform 1 has been laid, although it remains unconnected and has yet to be ballasted. Here’s some pictures.
Much of the scaffolding around the lift tower has disappeared. Meanwhile, work continues on rebuilding the platform 1 side of the island. Grand Central’s 180108 working 1A63, the. 10:29 Bradford Interchange to London Kings Cross slows to stop at Mirfield. You can see work continue on rebuilding platform 1 to the right. This scene will look very different in a few years when all four tracks are reinstated and electrification masts and wires abound! Newly laid track in place on the formation of the Down Huddersfield which serves platform 1. This is looking East towards Ravensthorpe.
Moving on, I caught another Northern service to Dewsbury before walking back to Ravensthorpe.
Dewsbury is having platforms extended to cope with 6-car trains. Here’s progress on the Eastern (Leeds) end of platform 1. The overbridge on George St has been replaced by a new concrete structure. The original (life-expired) structure dated from the opening of the line in 1847, so it had a good innings! Note the detailing on the concrete undersill in an attempt blend in with the original stonework. Early embankment work on the River Calder seen through one of the arches of the double-span Butler bridge. A new river crossing will be constructed at this point with the original 1847 railway alignment and bridges being abandoned. The footpath along this stretch of the Calder is blocked off at this point. This is as far as you can go.
Walking back along the Calder to pass under the Spen valley greenway I walked down the (still open) footpath along the Calder and Hebble navigation to this point where the new railway bridges are beginning to take shape. A Northern service from Bradford to Leeds crosses the 1847 bridge in the background. Another view of the new bridge. The different spans are because the Fast and Slow lines will converge near here. The (double track) Fasts are in the centre whilst the Up and Down Slows join on either side.
Walking on along a very muddy towpath I moved on to Ravensthorpe. Here’s the view of the station from the soon to be replaced Calder Rd bridge.
It’s difficult to appreciate how this scene will look in the future – or how it looked in the past. Here’s an artist’s impression curtesy of TRU. Everything here will disappear under a flyover and dive-under! The station will move behind the camera, to the other side of the bridge. The current view from the station platform as workers pour concrete to build one of the retaining walls for the flyover and the line to/from Healy Mills (seen in the background) which will be diverted to pass underneath. A TPE service from York via Healy Mills speeds past workers levelling a fresh pour of concrete.Retaining walls for the new flyover are beginning to rise. The existing main line towards Dewsbury curves away in the distance whilst cranes are at work constructing the bridges for the new line. This section of track will be abandoned once the new lines open. To the left of the picture is the site of the old goods yard and coal-fired power station which provided a lot of rail traffic in the past. Here’s a 1937 map (published in 1942) showing the mass of freight lines and sidings that existed in the area. Ravensthorpe station is bottom left. The very first of the Class 150s, 150001 arrived to take me back to Dewsbury for my connecting train to Halifax. The station will close from the start of the new timetable on Sunday 14 December 2025, so if you want to visit – be quick!
I’ll be adding another TRU update shortly. I’ll also be visiting Ravensthorpe again before it finally closes.
NOTE: All photographs in this blog are my copyright.
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Paul Bigland 