Media centre

Monday 25 Sep 2017

Passengers and railway neighbours invited to find out more about upgrades between Blackpool and Preston

Region & Route:

| North West & Central

Residents living near the railway in Blackpool and passengers who travel between the seaside resort and Preston are being invited to find out more about the next phase of upgrade work.

The drop in, which will take place at Kirkham community Centre, Mill Street, Kirkham, PR4 2AN, next Monday (2 October) between 4pm and 7pm, is an opportunity to find out more and ask the project team any questions.  

As part of Network Rail’s £1bn+ Great North Rail Project and national Railway Upgrade Plan, work continues to upgrade and electrify the railway between Preston and Blackpool which will provide passengers with a better, greener and more reliable railway.

From 11 November Network Rail engineers are embarking on 19 weeks of work which will affect travel to and from the seaside town.

During this time Network Rail will carry out vital upgrades to track and platforms at Blackpool North and Kirkham & Wesham stations. We are also upgrading the signalling system on both lines to Blackpool which includes installing 84 new modern signals which will help to make journeys more reliable.

For Network Rail to do this work sections of the railway will need to close to Northern train services. Buses will replace trains during these closures.

For safety reasons some of the work - which includes piling work to install foundations and the steel masts which will power electric trains - has to be carried out at night when trains aren’t running.

Noel Connolly, head of programme management for Network Rail, said: “This work forms part of our Railway Upgrade Plan and will deliver better, greener and more efficient services for passengers in the north.

"I appreciate that the work could be disruptive and this drop in is a time to find out more and ask us any questions about the work and the benefits. I’d like to thank local residents for their patience while we carry this out and assure them we will take all possible measures to keep disruption to an absolute minimum.”

The drop in session form part of a regular series of events along the route where local residents are invited to speak to Network Rail staff who will be on hand to answer questions and provide more detail on the work being carried out.

To find out more about this work please visit our website at www.networkrail.co.uk/blackpool. Any residents who cannot make the drop in and have any questions can call our 24 hour national helpline on 03457 11 41 41.