Nine-day closure of Manchester-Bolton-Preston railway planned for late August

Tuesday 7 Aug 2018

Nine-day closure of Manchester-Bolton-Preston railway planned for late August

Region & Route:: | North West & Central

Passengers are being reminded of changes to services between Manchester and Preston via Bolton as Network Rail works to complete the upgrade of the railway.

As part of the Great North Rail project, there will be a nine-day closure of the railway, from 25 August until Sunday 2 September, when buses will replace trains.

Engineers will also continue mid-week overnight working and weekend working until Sunday 4 November.

The upgrade will provide passengers with better, more reliable electric services as part of a multi-billion pound investment across the North of England.

Martin Frobisher, managing director for Network Rail’s London and North Western route, said: “Our Manchester-Preston upgrade is part of the Great North Rail Project, the rail industry’s plan to transform train travel for customers across the North through track and train improvements.

“This short-term disruption is necessary to complete these vital upgrades and it’s important to remember the long-term improvements which will be delivered. In future electric-powered, greener, faster, more frequent, more spacious, more reliable trains will become the norm through the Bolton corridor.”

The Manchester-Bolton-Preston upgrade covers over 25 miles of track and infrastructure upgrades. It has involved the widening and rebuilding of Farnworth Tunnel, remodelling of tracks and platforms through Chorley and Bolton stations, the renewal of 13,883m of track, replacement of 93 signals, and the laying of 236,000m of cables.

Passengers are advised to check before they travel on www.nationalrail.co.uk or with their train operator for the latest information.

Notes to Editors

Travel information:

Train services from Wigan Wallgate, Ince, Hindley, Daisy Hill, Hag Fold, Atherton, Walkden, Moorside, Swinton, Salford Crescent and Salford Central will still have a train service in and out of Manchester from Tuesday 28 August until Friday 31 August.
Limited additional peak services will operate between Euxton Balshaw Lane and Central Manchester from Tue 28 until Fri 31 August with connecting rail replacement bus to/from Buckshaw Parkway and Chorley.
Clitheroe line trains will run direct to/from Manchester via Todmorden and Rochdale.

Background to Manchester-Preston via Bolton upgrade:

In early January Network Rail announced delays to its May 2018 deadline to complete its Preston-Manchester upgrade.
This was caused by unforeseen poor ground conditions hampering engineers’ progress installing foundations for masts to carrying overhead power lines.
Delays were made worse by the collapse of Carillion, the lead contractor for the scheme.
With Amey having now replaced Carillion as the main contractor, progress is accelerating. All 1,659 problem foundations are in the ground, only one steel mast needs to be fitted (from a total of 1,519) along with 73 overhead wire runs.

Contact information

Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41

Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries

Journalists
Network Rail press office - North West & Central Region
0330 854 0100
NWCmediarelations@networkrail.co.uk

About Network Rail

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.

Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.