Five weekends of rail disruption set to begin

Travellers from Leeds and York have been warned to be aware of disruption due to overhead wiring works

Rail passengers have been urged to check before they travel as five weekends of rail disruption between Leeds and York are due to begin on Saturday.

Services between the cities, as well as trains between Leeds and Selby, are expected to be affected, with routes diverted via Castleford.

Local stations, such as Cross Gates and Garforth, will be served by rail replacement bus services. Weekday services will not be affected.

About 3.7 miles (6km) of overheard wire is set to be installed during the disruption. The work will also allow for the demolishing of the Cross Gates Station Road Bridge, as well as the installation of the new bridge framework.

The weekends which are set to be affected are 7-8 June, 14-15 June, 21-22 June, 28-29 June and 5-6 July.

The disruption is part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) a multibillion-pound project aiming to provide better transport across the Pennines. The whole project is set to be completed in 2041.

Further bridge construction is also taking place on the new Rose Lane highway bridge

Adam Sellers, Senior Sponsor for the TRU said that the work would help make the services "faster, greener and more reliable".

However he also recognised the disruption it would cause: "My advice for passengers would be to plan ahead. We have put in as much mitigation to this as possible to ensure that people can travel just as they normally would, with potentially longer journeys

"I would like to thank the passengers for their patience during this time," he added.