Wednesday 23 Dec 2020
Passengers and road users to benefit from railway upgrades in Atherton
- Region & Route:
- North West & Central
Passenger journeys will be made more reliable next year when railway drainage and a bridge is replaced in Greater Manchester.
A £3m Great North Rail Project investment will see Shakerley Lane railway bridge in Atherton rebuilt and more than a mile of track drainage replaced.
This will better protect the track between Manchester and Hindley from flooding caused by heavy rainfall.
For the work to be carried out, a series of weekend railway closures will be needed, as well as the closure of Shakerley Lane.
Some train services will be diverted and buses will replace trains between Wigan Wallgate and Manchester Victoria via Walkden on:
- Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 February 2021
- Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 February 2021
- Sundays 7, 14, 21 and 28 March 2021
Shakerley Lane railway bridge will be closed to the public from Monday 4 January until Friday 23 April.
Paul Hodson, head of capital delivery for Network Rail, said: “The work in Atherton as part of the Great North Rail Project will secure the future of this key Greater Manchester route for decades to come.
“As with any major project like this there will be some disruption and I’d like to thank passengers and local people for their patience.”
Chris Jackson, regional director at Northern said: “This vital work being carried out by Network Rail will improve the reliability of the railway in Greater Manchester and secure it for future use for our passengers.
“We will continue to work closely with colleagues across the rail industry to minimise the impact on our customers and I’d like to thank them in advance for their patience and understanding while the work is completed. Please remember to plan journeys ahead of time and check for the latest travel information."
Passengers are reminded to continue following government Covid safety advice when using public transport.
People can get more advice and plan their journeys at www.nationalrail.co.uk or with their train operator.
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 - Jonathan Cooke
Jonathan.Cooke@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.
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