DRIVERS are rail passengers traveling between York and Leeds are being warned of major disruption ahead.

Upgrades to the Transpennine route are carried out between Leeds and York from Sunday, (May 26) to Monday (June 3).

Work is being carried out by the Transpennine Route Upgrade East Alliance, comprising Network Rail, J. Murphy & Sons, Siemens, Systra and VolkerRail.

They will be replacing the railway bridge deck over the A162 London Road between Sherburn-in-Elmet and Barkston Ash.

The bridge, which was opened in 1869 by the North Eastern Railway, is approaching the end of its life and needs replacing with a stronger bridge deck, and doing so before the line’s electrification will enable more frequent, faster, heavier passenger and freight trains to run.

Adam Sellers, senior sponsor for the Transpennine route upgrade, said: “These improvement works form a major part of the programme as we take a step closer to full electrification of the Transpennine route.

“We’d like to remind passengers and road users to plan their journey in advance as train services and road access will be disrupted and thank them for their patience as we deliver these essential upgrades.”

The A162 London Road beneath the bridge will be closed between 8am on Sunday just after midnight on Monday (June 3) to allow for the work to take place.

Mr Sellers said: "A clearly-signed diversionary route for cars and HGVs via the A1(M) will be in place, with further details available at Causeway one.network

"We’d like to remind road users to follow the signed diversionary route as opposed to sat-nav, in order to minimise the amount of traffic on the narrow roads through the nearby communities of Church Fenton and Barkston Ash."

A minibus shuttle will be provided for pedestrians to link either side of the bridge as the footpath beneath the bridge will be closed.

The bridge deck will be replaced between Tuesday, May 28 and Friday, May 31. As well as the A162 London Road closure, some trains between Leeds and York will be diverted via Castleford during these dates. Church Fenton and Ulleskelf stations will be served by rail replacement buses to York and to Micklefield for rail connections to and from Leeds. They will continue to be served by train services between York, Selby and Hull as usual.

We’re advising to passengers to check before they travel at National Rail Enquiries or with their train operator. The line will reopen to train services on Saturday, June 1.

Chris Nutton, major projects director at TransPennine Express, said: “The bridge work taking place at Barkston Ash between Micklefield and Church Fenton is essential for the delivery of the Transpennine Route Upgrade.

“While this work is being carried out, TransPennine Express will operate an amended timetable on our North route services and divert trains between Leeds and York via a diversionary route, with slightly longer journey times. We'd like to advise customers to check before they travel.

"This essential work was initially planned to take place during the Christmas period, but high winds meant it was unsafe to operate the large crane needed to move the bridge deck into place.

"These upgrades take us another step closer to delivering more frequent, faster trains on a cleaner, greener, more reliable railway between York, Leeds and Manchester."