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Tuesday 5 Dec 2023

Station repairs and track upgrades in the North West this Christmas

Region & Route:

North West & Central

| North West & Central: North West

Hundreds of rail engineers will make improvements to key rail routes in the North West this Christmas to improve future journeys for passengers and freight.

Network Rail is investing across its North West region to make essential upgrades to sections of track in Cumbria and important work upgrading railway equipment on the approach to the region’s busiest railway station – Manchester Piccadilly.

The work will see:

• Signalling structures upgraded at Ardwick junction to improve their reliability displaying directions for train drivers
• Railway track and ballast replaced on the West Coast main line in Oxenholme in the Lake District and Bolton-le-Sands in Lancashire
• Maintenance work to improve the roof at Manchester Piccadilly station

Meanwhile, construction will also continue on the Transpennine Route Upgrade, which when complete will deliver more frequent, faster and greener electric trains between Manchester, Leeds and York.

This includes:

• Piling to create a retaining wall to support the railway line at Clayton Vale in Manchester
• Lighting installed to illuminate the recently-remodelled junction at Stalybridge.

Much of this work will be taking place during the annual Christmas railway shutdown, when traditionally no trains run on Christmas Day or Boxing Day.

This has been carefully planned so as not to disrupt people from getting to their loved ones for the festive holidays.

People are still advised to check www.nationalrail.co.uk to plan their individual journey before and after Christmas as it could be impacted by essential improvements elsewhere on the wider railway network.

Phil James, Network Rail’s North Wes route director, said: “Hundreds of railway staff will once again be giving up their Christmas dinners to work upgrading the essential infrastructure which keeps passenger and freight trains running throughout the rest of the year.

“This Christmas in the North West the majority of our work won’t be disruptive to people’s travel plans. However with work taking place on other parts of the network we’d always advise people to check National Rail Enquiries to plan in advance, so they know exactly what to expect from their journey.”

Passengers travelling further afield in the New Year are being advised of work on New Year’s Day in the West Midlands which could impact long-distance train travel.

Avanti West Coast and CrossCountry will operate a significantly reduced service between Birmingham New Street and Birmingham International stations and their trains are expected to be very busy.

People wanting to travel on Monday 1 January are urged to check with their train operator and plan journeys in advance.

For more information you can visit: www.networkrail.co.uk/wcml