For passengers travelling to Leeds on weekdays during May, advance notice of closures due to TRU construction work. Getting to Leeds will involve a replacement bus between Huddersfield and Brighouse, with extended journey times. Here’s a helpful plan.
On weekdays trains will run through to Huddersfield from Manchester and Sheffield. At weekends trains from Manchester will only run as far as Marsden (and trains from Sheffield only as far as Lockwood), with replacement bus onward.
Brighouse station car park will be closed, and turned into a bus interchange. Whilst it is stated that alternative long stay parking is available in Brighouse, this coincides with Calderdale Council putting parking charges up, and Daisy Street car park being partially closed. If only someone could have had the bright idea of building a new station at Elland, with bus/rail interchange planned into the design……..
For amended timings use journey planners linked from the National Rail, TPE or TRU websites.
There will be a different set of weekday closures during June (Dewsbury to Leeds closed, diversion via Wakefield Kirkgate).
As part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) Network Rail are proposing a number of changes between Standedge and Gledholt (Huddersfield).
This includes upgrades at Marsden and Slaithwaite stations, the reconstruction of various bridges and highways, and the installation of new track, signalling and cabling.
They will also be setting up some temporary construction compounds. They are keen to share these proposals with the local community and hear feedback on their plans.
The works represented in this public consultation do not include the entirety of the activities between Standedge and Gledholt.
Residents and passengers (and anyone else) will be able to view their proposals and share your views by visiting a virtual public consultation room on their website until Friday 24th April.
They will also be holding a third drop-in session for you to see their plans and chat with their project team:
The timings for the first two drop-in sessions were a bit awkward for regular commuters, and when this was pointed out a third drop-in session was promised.
• Saturday 18 April 2026: 10 am – 1 pm Marsden Mechanics, Peel Street, Huddersfield, HD7 6BW. You can get to it using the Rail Replacement Bus Service on that date.
One of our criticisms of the Stalybridge to Diggle consultation was that it appeared to be aimed more at dog walkers than at passengers. Given the list of options, which still does not include “passenger”, it seems this has not been taken on board.
There is much that is positive. Both Marsden and Slaithwaite stations are to be made fully accessible, with a larger car park at Slaithwaite station. A third track is to be provided between Gledholt Tunnel and Marsden, allowing expresses to overtake slower freight and local stopping services.
It has long been known that at some point TRU would result in severe disruption in Marsden and Slaithwaite.
As long ago as 2018, a leaked letter from Rob McIntosh (then Network Rail Route Managing Director, LNE & EM) to the then Secretary of State in 2019, stated that the project
“will be very disruptive to passengers and local communities”, that
“communities such as…….. Marsden and Slaithwaite would be hugely affected as many rail services would have to become bus replacements”,
and
“consulting with all the stakeholders in the region we shall work through the detail of these plans to understand better their implications”.
Clearly “all the stakeholders” did not include passengers at Slaithwaite and Marsden.
Andrew Haines, then Chief Executive of Network Rail gave an interview in the Guardian in 2019, in which with specific reference to the Transpennine Route Upgrade he highlighted the need for Network Rail to consult more with passengers.
It’s only now, in 2026, that some consultation is taking place in our communities.
It is our view that consultation should have started before the first month-long closure, for the remodelling of Stalybridge station, in 2023, and definitely before the month-long Huddersfield station closure in September 2025. It was never reasonable to expect passengers to put up with disruption on that scale whilst being unable or unwilling to discuss what outcomes the project will deliver for communities like ours along the route. Building public support for the project becomes a whole lot easier when residents and passengers can see what outcomes the project will deliver and when.
Saying:
“It’ll be great. We can’t tell you whether your stations will get a more frequent stopping service”
is not the way to secure local support for the project.
However, that’s not the way the railway industry has structured TRU. TRU covered the entire route between Manchester and York (let’s overlook, for the time being, that Manchester to Stalybridge was originally supposed to be the final phase of the North West Electrification Project, due for completion in 2018), and it has been split into several parts, each of which are at different stages of development and progress. Developing the scheme piecemeal may be good for getting approval from HM Treasury, but from the point of view of a resident/passenger who wants to know what the completed scheme will deliver for them and when, it’s not helpful.
As long ago as 2018, we asked the then Secretary of State Chris Grayling whether the completed TRU would deliver two stopping trains per hour throughout the day for Mossley, Greenfield, Marsden and Slaithwaite. He said he didn’t know but would find out and tell us. In the following 7 years neither he, nor any of his successors, nor anyone else from within the railway industry, has been prepared to answer this simple and obvious question. It’s a question SMART will continue to ask for as long as we need to.
From a passenger point of view, the complete package of what works will take place and when and what outcomes the project will deliver are important. Station accessibility is important, and it’s welcome that it will be provided, but if all that achieves is to enable wheelchair users to access the platforms in order to watch other people’s trains whizz through at 85 miles per hour then it’s nowhere near as useful as it could be. Therefore one of the key things we will be emphasising in response to this consultation is the importance of a clear commitment to a more frequent stopping service.
The virtual consultation shows locations which are being considered for site compounds, locations such as bridges where changes will take place, plus the designs for rebuilding Marsden and Slaithwaite stations, which amongst other things will make them fully accessible.
The proposal to make Crimble Bank a one-way street underneath Slaithwaite station is likely to provoke debate, as are some of the suggested locations for site compounds.
Some of the proposed locations for site compounds, in particular those close to Titanic Mill in Linthwaite and Tunnel End in Marsden, are already causing disquiet.
Responses can be provided online or in person at the two drop-in sessions.
SMART will certainly be asking about timescales and sequencing of works, and we will continue to seek a clear and unambiguous commitment to two stopping trains per hour.
The proposals, including two pdfs showing locations of potential site compounds and bridges where work needs to take place, and consultation responses can be given online at
As part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) Network Rail are proposing a number of changes between Standedge and Gledholt (Huddersfield).
This includes upgrades at Marsden and Slaithwaite stations, the reconstruction of various bridges and highways, and the installation of new track, signalling and cabling.
They will also be setting up some temporary construction compounds for their teams to be based out of [note for pedants: it was Network Rail, not us, who ended a sentence with a preposition.]. They are keen to share these proposals with the local community and hear feedback on their plans.
The works represented in this public consultation do not include the entirety of the activities between Standedge and Gledholt.
Residents, businesses and stakeholders are now being encouraged to view the plans and provide feedback as part of a public consultation period running from today (Monday 16 February) until Friday 27 March 2026.
In addition, members of the project team will be available at the following in-person events:
– Tuesday 24 February 2026, 2:30pm – 6:30pm at Slaithwaite Community Centre, Bank Gate, Slaithwaite, Huddersfield, HD7 5DL
– Thursday 26 February 2026, 2:30pm – 6:30pm at Marsden Mechanics, Peel Street, Marsden, Huddersfield, HD7 6BW
If you think the timings are a bit awkward for regular commuters, then you would not be the first to have pointed this out.
Proposals for the rebuilding of both Slaithwaite and Marsden stations would provide amongst other things full accessibility to all platforms, and we broadly support these.
The virtual consultation also has information on bridge reconstructions along the route, and potential locations for temporary construction compounds.
SMART has been pushing for consultation on this project, how it affects our communities and what outcomes it will deliver for our communities, for several years now.
One of the things we would like to see is a commitment that the completed scheme will provide an outcome of two stopping trains per hour throughout the day for Marsden and Slaithwaite. Our view is that any meaningful consultation will include consideration of what the completed scheme will deliver for passengers and residents in Marsden and Slaithwaite. It’s a lot easier to put up with “years of severe disruption” (Network Rail’s words not ours) if we have a clear and unambiguous commitment to two stopping trains per hour.
For ease of reference we have uploaded the pdf versions of the consultation documents here. responses to the consultation need to be given either using the Network Rail link above or in person at the drop-in consultation events.
‘Talking Transport’ event in Marsden: West Yorkshire Combined Authority and local councillor Matthew McLoughlin discussed the West Yorkshire ‘Weaver Network’, local transport and took questions on future plans at Marsden Mechanics on 28th January. A recording will be added to the Talking Transport Your Voice page.
Transpennine Route Upgrade: we have been informed that public consultation will likely take place in February in relation to our stations. We will update as soon as we know anymore and continue to press for improvements to accessibility and connectivity for Slaithwaite and Marsden.
Upcoming Works:
Weekends of 31 Jan/1 Feb and 7-8 Feb: our part of the lines is closed with a rail replacement bus operating between Stalybridge and Huddersfield
14-22 Feb: Manchester Piccadilly will be effectively closed for major upgrades, meaning our services will have a changed timetable and operate via Manchester Victoria instead.
In terms of station performance, Slaithwaite and Marsden stations continue to have some of the worst rail service based on punctuality and cancellations in the country at 2,393rd and 2,356th respectively out of 2,637 stations [Source: www.ontimetrains.co.uk].
