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Tuesday 20 Mar 2018

Customers reminded to check before they travel before and during Easter as work continues on Great North Rail Project

Region & Route:

| North West & Central

Passengers are being reminded to check before they travel as the Great North Rail Project continues over Easter.

Manchester Victoria will continue to be closed to train services on Sundays until Easter and the Easter weekend. This is to replace old track with new and to lower track under Cheetham Hill Road bridge on the line out to Stalybridge. This will help provide faster journeys in future.

During the engineering work, rail replacement buses will be available to take customers to their usual destinations. Normal train services will resume on Tuesday 3 April 2018.

Passengers are advised to plan their journey ahead and check www.nationalrail.co.uk before they travel.

Work over Easter will include:

• Lowering track under Cheetham Hill Road bridge as part of Manchester to Stalybridge line speed improvement upgrade.
• Continuous work on the Manchester – Preston line to support the introduction of new and improved trains by December 2018. There will be no trains through Bolton at weekends until later in the year.
• Continuous work on the Preston-Blackpool North line to support the introduction of greener, quieter and more reliable trains in 2018. The line is due to open on Monday 16 April 2018.
• Improvements on the Weaver to Wavertree resignalling project meaning more reliable journeys for passengers.
• Upgrade to track and signalling on the ‘Halton Curve’ that links the Chester/Warrington line and the Liverpool/Crewe line at Frodsham Junction. This will enable a new hourly service, in both directions, between Liverpool and Chester from December 2018.

Martin Frobisher, route managing director for Network Rail, said: “The Great North Rail Project is really gathering pace and Team Orange will be out in force over Easter as we continue to work on the biggest upgrade of the railway since the Victorian era. Once the project is complete, passengers from across the north will benefit with improved links, quicker travel times and more reliable journeys by 2020.”

Liam Sumpter, regional director for Northern, said: “We look forward, together with our customers, to the completion of engineering work across the region.

“When complete, this work will pave the way for our brand new and fully refurbished trains – giving Northern’s customers better, brighter, faster and more comfortable journeys than ever before.”

Kathryn O’Brien, customer experience director for TransPennine Express commented: “The work taking place over Easter will create improvements for rail customers across the North.

“It will mean changes to our services between Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Victoria and customers are advised to plan their journeys in advance and check before they travel.

As part of the Easter upgrade work, journeys in other parts of Britain may also be affected by work. Journeys to and from London Euston will be impacted over the weekend, including no West Coast mainline trains in or out of the station on Easter Sunday.

Customers are urged to plan their journeys and check before they travel at www.nationalrail.co.uk