TransPennine and Midlands Mainline work ‘unpaused’.

Work on the electrification of TransPennine and Midland Mainline is to be ‘unpaused’.

In a statement yesterday, the Secretary of State for Transport asked the Chairman of Network Rail to ‘unpause’ the work, following a discussion of how the work would proceed.

Network Rail will work with the Department for Transport and RailNorth to develop a new plan covering the elctrifcation of the TransPennine line between Staylbridge and Leeds and on to Yoprk and Selby, delivering kkey passenger benefits as quickly as possible.

The new plan is an improvement on the previous, providing significant improvements to passengers, such as faster journey times between Manchester, York and Leeds on better trains.

The upgrade is expected to provide capacity for six fast or semi-fast trains per hour, take up to 15 minutes off today’s journey time between Manchester and York and be complete by 2022. Once the work is finished, the whole route from Liverpool to Newcastle (via Manchester, Leeds and York) will be fully electrified and journey times will be significantly reduced compared to today’s railway.

Work on the Midland Mainline electrification will also recommence. This route is a vital long-distance corridor which serves the UK’s industrial heartland.

The new proposal also covers the electrification of the line north of Bedford to Kettering and Corby by 2019 and the line North of Kettering to Leicester, Derby/Nottingham and Sheffield by 2023.

Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin said: “As a one nation government we are making sure every part of Britain benefits from a growing economy. Connecting up the great cities of the north is at the heart of our plan to build a Northern Powerhouse. This government will see the job through and build a better, faster and more reliable railway for passengers in the north and Midlands.”

Chairman of Network Rail Sir Peter Hendy said: “The temporary pause in the programme has given us the space to develop a better plan for passengers. People can expect more services and faster journeys. We face some difficult challenges, and there is more work still to do, but the Secretary of State’s decision means we can now move forward with our plans to electrify TransPennine and Midland Mainline”.

Before the end of the year, the new Northern and TransPennine rail franchise awards will be announced which will:

• deliver new train carriages and remove out-dated Pacer trains
• introduce free Wi-Fi on trains
• offer a one-third increase in capacity with 200 additional services on weekdays and Saturdays and 300 more train services on Sundays

The total programme of rail electrification and upgrades will completely transform the railways for passengers in the north and Midlands and help ensure that every part of Britain benefits from a growing economy.

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