The first electric trains have successfully completed test runs along the recently electrified section of railway between York and Church Fenton as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU).

The milestone follows the completion of upgrade work between Church Fenton and Colton Junction – where trains from Leeds join the East Coast Main Line towards York – in July, when the newly installed overhead line equipment was energised for the first time.

TRU says this is one of the busiest stretches of railway in the north, with more than 100 trains passing through each day.

Adam Sellers, senior sponsor at TRU, said: “This is a major achievement in our plans to bring cleaner, faster and better travel to the people of the North of England.

“The test trains successfully demonstrated that the new overhead equipment is operating as it should, ahead of the introduction of electric services in the future.

“People can see that TRU is very much in the delivery phase now and the benefits of all our teams’ hard work over the last three years is starting to show.”

The overhead line equipment (OLE), which carries 25,000 volts, will allow more environmentally friendly electric and bi-mode trains to run at speeds of up to 125mph – 30mph faster than they currently run – reducing journey times.

The tests were undertaken using a TransPennine Express (TPE) Class 802 bi-mode train, which was operated by the Rail Operations Group, which was supporting TPE and the TRU East Alliance team to deliver these key tests in the early hours of the morning.

Jonathan Gavin-Jones, business development manager at Rail Operations Group, said: “The TRU programme is one of the most exciting and ambitious infrastructure projects on the UK rail network.

“Rail Operations Group was proud to support TransPennine Express and the TRU East Alliance team to deliver these key tests.”

This is the second section of the route to be electrified as part of TRU, after the successful roll-out of electric services between Manchester Victoria and Stalybridge this summer.

When complete, across the full 70-mile route, rail passengers will be helping to save up to 87,000 tonnes of carbon emissions each year – equivalent to 5.9 million car journeys along the same route. For people living near the railway, it will also mean better air quality and quieter trains.

Over the last three years, engineers installed 350 piled foundations to support the new OLE, including 300 new cantilever and portal structures to support 37 miles of new contact catenary wires along this stretch of the line.

TRU ensured the construction of these upgrades was delivered sustainably, with the new equipment being assembled locally at the nearby Joseph Lynn Logistics Hub in Sherburn-in-Elmet and transported to site by train.