MANCHESTER VICTORIA

Friday 9 May 2003

MANCHESTER VICTORIA

Region & Route:

As a result of an incident yesterday when a pane of glass fell from the roof at Manchester Victoria station, Network Rail has closed the Metrolink platforms and platforms one and two. Metrolink services are currently being replaced by buses between Crumpsall and Piccadilly Gardens and train services are being diverted to alternative platforms. A spokesman for Network Rail said: “Safety is our main priority, which is why we have decided to close the platforms. We have staff on site to assess the situation with a view to getting services back to normal as soon as possible. “We are aware that there is a concert at the Arena tonight and we are working with the Arena management team to do whatever we can to ease the situation. However, we must ensure that no visitors or passengers are put at risk and will only reopen the Metrolink platforms when we are sure it is safe to do so.”

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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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