Major UK train station used by nearly 10,000 a day to close for A MONTH for £70 million revamp
A MAJOR train station used by almost 10,000 people every day is set to close for a month as part of a £70 million revamp.
No trains will run through or stop at Huddersfield station in West Yorkshire between August 30 and September 29, according to Network Rail.
The works are set to spark travel chaos for the roughly 300,000 travellers who use the station each month.
After the closure, just three of the six current platforms will reopen on a temporary basis.
This is to allow for work on the multibillion-pound Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) to continue.
Gareth Hope, TRU sponsor, said the scheme would be “key to improving the journeys of millions of people across the north.”
Network Rail says the closure will allow developers to remodel the track and platforms.
This change will “transform the layout of the station and enable more trains with more seats to run through the area on a greener, more reliable railway”.
The works will also enable future upgrades at the busy station to take place, including the restoration of its Grade II listed tea rooms.
A new footbridge is also planned to be installed at West Yorkshire’s second busiest station in the future, as part of its £70 million internal modernisation project.
Huddersfield station has already completed some of its restorative work, which began in November 2023, with the terminus’ canopy roof having its refurbishment finished up in April.
The station’s modernisation programme is due to be complete by 2027.
Hope said the 30-day closure would help give the station a “deserved makeover without harming its heritage”.
Chris Nutton, major projects and TRU director at TransPennine Express, said the nearby station at Brighouse, three-and-a-half miles away to the north of Huddersfield, would act as the “gateway to the town” during the closure.
He added: “We’ll have more information on how our customers can travel across the Pennines in June but, for now, we encourage you to put these dates in your diaries.”
Huddersfield station recorded 3.022 million entries and exits in the 2023/24 period, while around 600,000 people also used the station for interchanges over the same time frame.
The station is a major halt on the North TransPennine route, which connects major cities Liverpool and Manchester through Yorkshire to Leeds, York, and Hull as well as far-fetched destinations like Newcastle and Edinburgh.
It also acts as a terminus for a number of Northern Trains services which run to Sheffield, Leeds, and Bradford.
The station was also famously home to a cat, Felix, who even had a Sunday Times bestselling biography.
Busy UK station used by 6k passengers every day will shut for a YEAR to undergo ‘state-of-the-art’ transformation
A BUSY London station used by thousands every day is set to shut for nearly a year, causing disruption for commuters and tourists alike.
Cutty Sark DLR station, one of south London’s busiest stops, will close from May 31 as it undergoes a long-awaited escalator overhaul.
Originally expected to shut for six months, Transport for London (TfL) has now confirmed the closure will last until spring 2026.
The station, which sees around 7.6 million passengers a year, has been plagued with faulty escalators, forcing people to climb 121 steps or wait for a packed lift.
TfL says it’s simply not possible to carry out the replacement work while keeping the station open.
When it reopens, Cutty Sark will be kitted out with four brand-new, energy-efficient, state-of-the-art escalators.
During the closure, passengers are being advised to use Greenwich station, which is about a 10-minute walk or a short hop on the bus from Cutty Sark.
The station is vital for Greenwich locals and a hotspot for tourists, sitting just minutes from attractions like the National Maritime Museum, the Old Royal Naval College, and the iconic Cutty Sark itself.
Locals have raised concerns about crowding and delays, especially during peak tourist season in summer.
This comes after it was announced in January that Manchester Oxford Road station would shut for as long as two years as part of a project to increase capacity.
The project would include longer platforms as well as a new footbridge and lift.
This would result in an extra 120 passengers per train, with each one having two additional cars.
And new track signalling improvements would allow two extra trains an hour to call at the station.
Network Rail has since put forward the proposal to close the station between 2029 and 2031 while these works are in place.
While it said this was “subject to change,” it would mean other stations would be much busier and congested.