Improving connectivity across the network
An important part of our work in managing Britain’s railway is improving rail connections for you and our freight partners.
Here are five of our biggest projects that have or will give you better rail journeys.
Ebbw Vale line
We’ve worked with the Welsh Government since early 2022 to improve the railway between Newport and Ebbw Vale.
We built two new platforms at Newbridge and Llanhilleth stations this spring for new services. We also installed signal posts and finished track work along the route.
The £70m upgrade has reached its final stage. We’re now installing track at Newbridge station and in the Crosskeys area.
You’ll get two trains an hour – one to Cardiff and one to Newport – once the work’s complete. Meaning more leisure and business travel opportunities.
Transpennine Route Upgrade
This multi-billion-pound project[1] will bring better train journeys across this route between York and Manchester via Huddersfield and Leeds.
We’re doubling the number of tracks from two to four between Huddersfield and Dewsbury to increase the number of services. You’ll get up to six fast services an hour between Leeds and Manchester and up to two stopping services for more local journeys. That’s more services to choose from and more seats.
We’re also electrifying the whole line for greener, more reliable electric trains. This will reduce the carbon used to operate the railway. We aim to cut it by 250,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) by 2035 and six million tonnes of CO2e over the next 60 years. That’s the same as taking six million cars off the road for a year.
We also hope to run 15 more freight trains a day. We expect these freight trains to remove more than 1,000 lorries from the roads each day. This will ease road traffic and improve air quality for you.
Thanet Parkway
We opened Thanet Parkway[2] in July. It’s Kent’s first new railway station in eight years.
It improves travel connections and opportunities between East Kent, London and the wider region. You can now get from Thanet Parkway to London in just 70 minutes.
The station boasts a range of accessible facilities including lifts, tactile paving and hearing loops.
The station has already proved popular with locals – nearly 10,000 customers had used it within three months.
Beaulieu Park
We’re busy building the first railway station on the Great Eastern Main Line for more than 100 years. Beaulieu Park[3] in Chelmsford, Essex is part of a wider regeneration to support the area’s economic development.
You’ll benefit from a new bus terminal, parking for more than 700 cars and 500 bikes, and dedicated taxi bays.
A visualisation of Beaulieu Park railway station
Beaulieu Park will also have step-free access to all platforms via two lifts, and accessible toilets, baby change facilities, a waiting area and space for retail and catering options.
Levenmouth Rail Link
We’ve worked with the Scottish Government since July 2021 on a £116m project to reconnect Levenmouth in Fife to the railway[4] for the first time in more than 50 years.
We’re building accessible stations on the line at Cameron Bridge and Leven for even better connections.
We reached a major milestone in August when we finished installing the track. This involved laying about 75,000 tonnes of ballast – the stones that support the track – and installing more than 29,000 sleepers and 35km of rail.
The project should complete next spring. It will mean low-carbon journeys and wider opportunities for the local communities and beyond.
This project will also help nine young students gain practical experience by working on it. The Levenmouth Rail Link Rail Skills Academy accepted its first cohort in September.
