Residents in a North Yorkshire village say they will be left stranded if a railway footbridge is removed before a new road bridge is finished.

Network Rail plans to demolish the Church Fenton footbridge as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade between Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds and York.

The residents said removing the footbridge before a new road bridge is finished would isolate part of the community and urged Network Rail to halt plans until the road bridge is open.

The village has one other route across the railway line, a staffed level crossing, which can mean long waits at the gates.

Resident Sophie Nabhan-Sandison said she crosses the railway line at least six times a day during the week to take her three-year-old daughter to nursery. She said: "Imagine having conditional access to your property and conditional access to leave. It's not a matter of someone can just come and open the gates. It's highly conditional on what trains are running, how many trains are running. There could be a significant wait."

Network Rail said the bridge needed to be demolished because it was too narrow and too low for the additional track and electrification required for the upgrade. The new road bridge is due to be completed by mid-December, the company said.

Network Rail added the level crossing would stay open during the works for vehicles and pedestrians and be operated by crossing keepers, while delivery and utility vehicles would be guided through the new highway bridge.

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'York-Leeds railway upgrades mean we get no trains for a month'

Major works are under way on one of the busiest sections of railway in Yorkshire.

The Transpennine Route Upgrade engineering scheme closed the main line between Leeds and York at Christmas, with diversions in place from Monday.

For one North Yorkshire village at the centre of the work, there are no trains for 32 days.

Passengers using Church Fenton Station on a damp December evening told the BBC about the impact of the closure.

According to estimates by the Office of Rail and Road, almost 160,000 entries or exits were made at Church Fenton between April 2024 and March 2025.

On average, more than 200 people take the 10-minute journey between Church Fenton and York every day.

Bethan Vincent and Desmond Clarke use the station at least two or three times a week. "It's the reason we moved here," said Ms Vincent, 35.

She met Mr Clarke, 36, at university in York and they later married, moving to the village five years ago. He said the couple lived on a "problem road" very close to the station, which was also affected by road closures as part of the work, but that he did not know about the line closure despite attending an in-person consultation event. "They were mostly talking about the road closures. They didn't mention the station being closed for a month," he said.

Ms Vincent, who owns a marketing business in York, added that during the work, they would drive instead of catching the train. "That's really sad because part of the reason for living here was to drive less and reduce our carbon footprint. That's very important to me, very important to my business. So we'll end up driving and contributing to the massive traffic and parking issues locally."

Mr Clarke, an artist, added: "If both of us need the car at once, that's not going to work."

They both agreed that in the long-run, the work was important. "We as a country really need to sort out the transport and interconnecting issues in this country because it's just holding back other businesses I work with and myself," Ms Vincent said. "All we're looking for is just consistent communication."

Network Rail said it understood the importance of "clear notice".

"This is why we carried out early engagement with communities via drop-in events, advance notice letters and a paid advertising campaign, which covered electric advertising vans, local papers and radio, and online activities," said Sophie Leishman, sponsor for the Transpennine Route Upgrade.


Trains go from Church Fenton to stations including York, Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield and Bridlington

Rob Askew, 30, takes advantage of the "useful" railway station to travel into York or Leeds a couple of times a week. "It's a good little station to have. A lot of villages don't have stations and a lot of stations have closed down so it's worth having." He said the closure was "not ideal" and he would "probably" end up driving more.

Vicki Wickham, who used to live in Church Fenton but now lives nearby, said the station was "part of the popularity of the village".

"The number of cars parked up and down the road on the way into the station probably proves how many people use it," the 48-year-old said. "If this is the reason they moved here then it makes those 32 days very inconvenient for those people."

Steve Lambert lives in Tadcaster, which has not had its own railway station since 1966, but he uses Church Fenton every couple of months. "I've got some interests across in West Yorkshire, in Halifax. I've got some friends across in Halifax," said Mr Lambert, 73. "Sometimes it's more convenient if we're going out socially particularly, to get on the train here and go to Halifax and get a train back, then no need to worry about driving or anything like that. People could become a bit isolated out here and rely on the railway to get them in on a more regular basis than I do." But he said the upgrades were needed: "You've got to have a bit of pain to get some gain."

Jimmy Keinhorst agreed that the "long-term benefit" would be "worth it".

"It's been a long time coming in this part of the country if I'm honest. The investment in infrastructure has been somewhat hit-and-miss," said the 35-year-old, who lives in Church Fenton. He added that the station was "massively important".

"We're a small village but it's growing and growing. People look to Leeds and York to get into work and things. To be in the middle of two cities like that is quite handy."

Gemma Donlon uses the train a few times a month to socialise in Leeds and York, and said the station was "like a hub" for Church Fenton. "A lot of people move here because it's so easy to commute to York and Leeds," the 45-year-old added. She said the closure would have a "big impact".

"A lot of my friends get the train to work. They drop the children off at school, walk to the station and go straight to work. They won't be able to do that."

Rail industry officials said the closure had been carefully planned to coincide with the festive period, when railways were quieter, with phases to ensure disruption was reduced as people returned to work, school and college.

Rob Warnes, strategic development director at Northern, added that £100m had been invested by the industry into diversions. "Other routes can take more trains while this work is going on to keep our customers moving on trains," he said. "Journeys will be available, some by train, some by bus." He said the disruption would be "worth it in the long run".

Ms Leishman from Network Rail said: "The work being completed, which involves installing and testing 70 new signals, laying 3km of track, realigning platforms 3 & 4 at Church Fenton station and constructing a new passing loop, is a vital step towards delivering faster, greener and more reliable journeys across the route. We'd like to thank customers for their continued support while this work takes place and encourage anyone travelling through the area to check before they travel via National Rail Enquiries."