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Wednesday 15 Aug 2007

ATHERTON RAIL LINE TO GET £4 MILLION INVESTMENT

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Network Rail is investing just over £4 million on the Manchester to Atherton line on a combination of track renewal and structures work. One rail-over-road bridge will be completely renewed, another will be strengthened, and a section of track through Moorside station will be replaced as will four sets of switches and crossings (used to change trains from one track to another) outside Victoria station. Jo Kaye, Network Rail’s Area General Manager said: "This represents a significant investment in the Atherton line, which is one of the busiest commuting routes in and out of Manchester. By carrying out the track and bridge work, we can ensure the life of this vital link for many years to come." The bridge being completely renewed (at a cost of £1.25 million) carries the railway line over Fletcher Avenue in Atherton. Originally there were four railway tracks on the bridge, carried on two bridge decks. Two of the tracks were removed in the late 1960s making one span of the bridge redundant. The bridge decks will be removed and new concrete cill beams installed using a 400 tonne crane. There will also be new crash protection beams designed to protect the bridge from large lorries and other high-sided vehicles accidentally hitting the bridge. Finally, the new bridge deck will be laid and the track replaced on top of it. During the work, Fletcher Avenue will be closed and a short diversion put in place. Just down the road in Atherton is the second bridge, which carries the railway over a public footpath leading off Greendale. Similar to Fletcher Avenue bridge, this bridge originally carried five tracks, three of which have been removed. The plan is to strengthen the bridge at a cost of £525,000 by installing additional girder sections and beams, following which the steelwork will be grit blasted and painted. The bridge work, together with the track renewal in Moorside, means that there will be no services on the Atherton line for nine days, from Saturday 26 August until Monday 3 September. The track work outside Victoria station will take three days, starting on 25 August. This means that as well as affecting the Atherton line, there will be no trains out of Manchester Victoria going towards Eccles on the Liverpool line. Passengers are advised to contact national rail enquiries on 08457 48 49 50, log on to www.nationalrail.co.uk or check their travel plans with Northern for details of altered train services. All the work is being carried out over the bank holiday period, when many of the regular travellers will be away on holiday, thereby causing them as little disruption to their regular commuting as possible.