Thursday 17 Apr 2003

CARRY ON RAMBLING

Region & Route:
Now that Network Rail has successfully completed the installation of a new footbridge in the Oldham area, it is urging ramblers and walkers alike to use the new £645,000 foot crossing as a safer means of crossing the railway line. It is sending a message to all members of the public who use the footpath in Saddleworth, that the original walkway, which was at track level, is now closed and should no longer be used. The location is known locally as Butterhouse Lane crossing and it takes a ramblers’ route above Dobcross over the Trans-Pennine rail route. Now opened to the public, the footpath has been diverted over the new bridge to improve safety and provide a safer means of crossing the tracks. Network Rail’s Project Manager, Dave Shaw said: “To enable work to start on site, the footpath across the tracks had been temporarily closed in agreement with Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council. Now that the footbridge has been installed and the reopening of the footpath has been given the all clear, we are asking all members of the public to begin using the bridge when crossing the line. We do all that we can to run a safe and reliable railway and believe that a footbridge was the best way forward at this particular location.”

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We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.

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