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Thursday 11 Dec 2025

Longport station’s footbridge upgrade faces further delay

Region & Route:

North West & Central

Rail passengers and local people who use Longport station in Stoke-on-Trent are being informed of a further delay to its essential footbridge improvements.

Since summer 2025, Network Rail along with its principal contractor Story, have been upgrading the structure and staircases in a £1.4m investment.

The work was due to be completed this Autumn but has been delayed by manufacturing issues with some of the new steelwork.

Specifically, this relates to the sides of the bridge and the welding of the new balustrades and parapets.

These did not meet the quality standards required so the principal contractor and Network Rail are urgently working with the supplier involved to rectify the problems as soon as possible.

Today (Thursday 11 December) Network Rail has apologised to people impacted by the setback and confirmed that the diversionary walking route will remain in place until further notice.

In the coming days additional lighting along the route is being installed now the nights have drawn in for the winter.

Patrick Vallely, Network Rail head of buildings and civils, said: “We’re very sorry that rail users and local people will have to wait longer than expected for Longport station’s footbridge upgrade to be completed, and the inconvenience this causes for journeys due to the diversionary walking route.

“It’s our duty to carry out stringent tests to make sure all building work on our railway is done to the right standards. Regrettably, we’ve taken the tough decision to have some of the bridge panels remade because they did not meet what was required. We’re working closely with our contractors to get this resolved as quickly as possible and thank people for their continued patience.”

Jim Lewis, Story Contracting head of operations, said: “We continue to work with Network Rail and our supply chain to find a solution as quickly as possible. We apologise for any inconvenience caused and the ongoing delays to the project. We’d like to thank the community and rail users for their ongoing patience.”

The manufacturing problems mean the project now won’t be fully complete until at least Spring 2026.

Teams are looking at a range of temporary options to get the footbridge partially reopened sooner than that, with design development work underway at pace.

It’s hoped more detail on those plans can be announced before Christmas.

While the ongoing bridge work at Longport station won't affect train services, those who need to use the diversionary route are advised to allow extra time for their journeys. 

Passengers can find travel information at www.nationalrail.co.uk.