RAIL services from York are set for a boost after Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has announced the investment for TransPennine route upgrades (TRU) will more than treble.

The increase in funding, from £2.9 billion to more than £9 billion, the government says is set to strengthen TRU and Northern Powerhouse Rail, transforming an already ambitious project to a ‘gold standard’ and delivering on the government’s priority of Levelling Up the country.

The full route from York to Manchester will be fitted with the latest technology, from complete electrification and full digital signalling.

Capacity will be increased along the route for passenger and freight services between Huddersfield and Westtown in Dewsbury, doubling tracks from 2 to 4.

It will allow for an extra two trains an hour to and from Manchester.

A further £959 million of funding has been released to progress the next phase of TRU between Manchester and York.

The government says in the first phase, the TRU will cut journey times between Manchester and Leeds to 41-42 mins instead of upto an hour. After the completion of 40 miles of new high-speed line between Warrington and Yorkshire, this will be cut to 33 minutes.

This work is possible thanks to the Integrated Rail Plan (IRP), a £96bn rail investment for the North and Midlands, that will slash journey times between major towns and cities and along the TRU line between York and Manchester

The almost £1 billion will be spent on the remaining electrification of the railway between Stalybridge and Manchester and unlocking shorter journey times and trans-Pennine rail freight flows, with electric trains between Manchester and Stalybridge expected to hit the tracks around the middle of the decade.

The government says funding will also facilitate Northern Powerhouse Rail potentially doubling the amount of direct construction jobs from 2,000 to up to 4,000, taking thousands of lorries off our roads and delivering better journeys, sooner for passengers across the north.

Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps said: “Through our record-breaking integrated rail plan, we have a once in a lifetime opportunity to redesign the railways and it’s only right that we deliver this in line with the best quality technology at our disposal.

“By trebling the overall investment in the TRU, I’m ensuring the north is at the forefront of the government’s Levelling Up agenda and guaranteeing passengers gold standard services set to deliver greener, faster and reliable services through Northern Powerhouse Rail, electrification and additional train tracks.”

Once complete, the TRU is also expected to deliver extra freight services, more reliable journeys and slash journey times by up to 40%.

Work on the TransPennine route upgrade, announced in November 2021 in space of a specialist High Speed line is due to start in November 2025.

The full TRU programme will be delivered within the next 10-15 years, but passengers will start seeing the benefits sooner as each stage of the project is completed, including better reliability and a reduction in journey times.

A spokesman added the government is committed to delivering world-class infrastructure across all parts of the country which supports local economies to thrive.

For the York and surrounding areas this also a £65.7m scheme to upgrade the A1237 York Outer Ring Road alongside proposals for upgrading the A1237 Primary Route to dual carriageway standard between the B1224 Wetherby Road and A19 junctions.