WORK on fitting an extra track to a bottleneck junction at one of York’s rail gateways is set to start next spring.

Network Rail is planning to spend £8.6 million on installing a fourth rail line at Holgate junction which is intended to speed up journeys in and out of the city.

The current layout means services heading into York run into conflict with other trains, which has caused snags for the East Coast Main Line and has limited the number of long-distance high-speed services on the route.

The scheme, earmarked to start next March or April and to be completed by the end of November, would allow the number of services on the line to be increased and improve timings, but there will be some weekend platform closures and reductions in services while the work is carried out in a joint venture between Colas Rail and Morgan Sindell.

A Network Rail spokeswoman said: “The project involves the installation of a fourth track at Holgate junction to eliminate a significant bottleneck.

“It will deliver capacity for an increase in services and an improvement on performance, even though more trains will be operating.”