Media centre

Thursday 19 Jan 2017

Passengers between Preston and Bolton urged to plan their journeys as improvement work continues

Region & Route:

| North West & Central

With days to go before major work starts to upgrade the railway between Preston and Bolton, passengers travelling between the two at weekends are being urged to check before they travel and plan their journeys.

Supporting Britain’s Railway Upgrade Plan, the railway between Manchester and Preston via Bolton will be electrified as part of Network Rail’s £1bn+ Northern Programmes investment which will enable faster, more frequent trains through the area from December 2017.

Over seven miles of track is being replaced and realigned between Manchester and Preston to help speed up train journeys. As part of this work - over the next six weekends - tracks will be replaced in the Chorley, Adlington, Blackrod and Horwich areas. The work is being delivered alongside the electrification of the line which will enable greener and quieter trains to operate, creating smoother and more comfortable journeys for passengers travelling on the route.

To deliver the long-term benefits, the line between Preston and Bolton will be closed each weekend from Saturday 21 January to Sunday, 5 March - excluding 18/19 February - while the upgrades take place. This will mean changes to weekend train services in the area while the work is carried out.

Noel Connolly, Network Rail’s head of programme management, said: “This is essential work and I’d like to thank passengers in advance for their understanding. To deliver improvements to the railway in this area, significant engineering work is required to upgrade the tracks through Chorley and Bolton, and there is no other option but to close the railway line at weekends while this work is carried out.

“The upgrade and wider investment will result in a better, faster, more reliable railway that will serve passengers for many decades to come and help boost the economy across the north of England.”

Liam Sumpter, Regional Director for Northern, said: “The weekend work between Bolton and Preston is a vital part of Network Rail’s project which will pave the way for our own modernisation programme.

“Once complete, this work will complement other improvements taking place across the region, including the refurbishment of all Northern trains and the introduction of 281 new, purpose built carriages, and will help us provide a rail service fit for the 21^st Century.”

Some of the work involved will have to take place overnight and, while everything will be done to minimise disruption to local residents, there will be some noise as a result.

The track improvement work follows an upgrade of the railway through Chorley station which was recently completed and involved rebuilding the stations platforms, replacing the roofs of two subways and lowering tracks beneath nearby road bridges to make space for new overhead equipment needed to power electric trains.

Full travel information can be found on the National Rail Enquiries website at www.nationalrail.co.uk.

For information about the work – and changes to train services – can be found on the Network Rail website at www.networkrail.co.uk/manchester-preston