Detailed TransPennine £2.9bn rail upgrade plans unveiled

The TransPennine rail route serves passengers travelling between York, Leeds and Manchester

Major upgrades to four stations and the installation of more railway tracks are part of a planned £2.9bn upgrade of the TransPennine route.

Network Rail has also announced it intends to electrify the line between Huddersfield and Dewsbury and double the number of tracks from two to four.

It said the work would mean a more reliable service with "shorter journey times" between Leeds and Manchester.

A public consultation on the proposals is due to begin on 9 September.

Under the plans, stations at Huddersfield, Deighton, Mirfield and Ravensthorpe will be revamped, with the latter having either a bridge or tunnel built to separate two sections of the track.

Network Rail said the proposed major overhaul and electrification work would be carried out on an 8-mile (13km) section of the route, with the "first round" of consultations starting with those living closest to the railway.

A map shows the proposed upgrade between Huddersfield and Dewsbury

Kieran Dunkin, from Network Rail, said: "The Transpennine upgrade will deliver the benefits passengers want from their railway with more reliability, more trains and more seats, and shorter journey times."

The public consultation is due to run until late October with the responses being considered in the company's proposals, which will be subject to a second round starting in spring next year.

Network Rail said feedback from the consultation process would help form an application for a Transport and Works Act Order (TWAO) from the Department for Transport for the works to be carried out, which Network Rail hopes to submit in autumn 2020.

If the plans are approved, it hopes the work will start in 2022.

However, passengers are likely to face major disruption.

A letter leaked from Network Rail to Transport Secretary Chris Grayling last year said there would be line closures for 39 weeks a year from 2020 until 2024 on the wider TransPennine upgrade.

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