OREANDA-NEWS. A specialist engineering train has completed a four year maintenance programme on the railways serving Yorkshire this weekend.

Network Rail’s Track Renewal System (TRS) has been working five nights per week in order to minimise passenger disruption with the upgraded track providing passengers with smoother and more reliable journeys.

The TRS has replaced around 250 miles of track across Yorkshire and the routes which serve it, including on the East Coast Main Line. Since the work began in 2012, the distance replaced is equivalent to building a new railway from Kings Cross to Durham and is a key part of Network Rail’s Railway Upgrade Plan.

The system has worked all over the region, including Leeds, Hull, York and Sheffield and completed its final shift on Saturday night on the East Coast Main Line between York and Doncaster.

The ?40m high-tech train is over a third of a mile long and typically relays between half a mile of track per shift, minimising disruption and delays to passengers as it reduces the need for weekend closures.

Ben Brooks, TRS project director from Network Rail, said: “The Track Renewal System has worked across Yorkshire for the past four years. We hope railway users will feel the full benefit of the programme, as many may have been unaware that this work was being carried out.”

About Network Rail

Network Rail owns, manages and develops Britain's railway - the 20,000 miles of track, 40,000 bridges and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations (the largest of which we also run). In partnership with train operators we help people take more than 1.65bn journeys by rail every year and move hundreds of millions of tonnes of freight, saving almost 8m lorry journeys. We employ 36,000 people across Britain and work round-the-clock, each and every day, to provide a safe, reliable railway.

About the Railway Upgrade Plan

The Railway Upgrade Plan is Network Rail's investment plan for Britain's railways. It makes up two-thirds of Network Rail's ?40bn spending priorities for the five years to 2019 and represents the biggest sustained programme of rail modernisation since the Victoria era. It is designed to provide more capacity, relieve crowding and respond to the tremendous growth Britain's railways continue to experience; passenger numbers have doubled in the past 20 years and are set to double again over the next 25 years - so we need to continue to invest in building a bigger, better railway.