Tuesday 10 Feb 2026
Teams to start £2m woodland management project set to reduce risk to vital Merseyside railway
- Region & Route:
- North West & Central
Woodland management teams will soon begin a £2m project aimed at controlling vegetation and reducing delays on a key section of railway line in Merseyside.
Network Rail staff will begin the project – between Speke and Edge Hill – later this month.
The work is vital to ensuring that rail services can pass through the area without being disrupted, especially during increasingly common periods of extreme weather.
The project will involve keeping immediate trackside areas clear of vegetation and removing or reducing any trees on railway land that are within striking distance of the track and therefore posing a hazard to passing trains.
Network Rail quote: “This is vitally important work which will ensure we can run trains through this area with as few delays and as little disruption as possible. However, this work is going to create a change to how the railway looks in some areas.
"We’re engaging with residents who live nearby and will be holding a drop-in session on Wednesday 11 February to answer any questions they may have."
To plan rail journeys in advance please use www.nationalrail.co.uk for the latest travel information.
Notes to Editors
- The drop-in session will be held between 4:30 – 7pm on Wednesday 11 February at Bridge Chapel, Heath Road, Liverpool, L19 4XR.
Wherever possible, Network Rail staff will be carrying out this work during daytime hours 8am – 4pm on weekdays from February 2026 until early 2027. For safety reasons, however, a lot of this work can only be carried out when train services are not in operation. As such, our current programme of night working is as follows:
- Working alternative Saturday night shifts beginning on the evening of Saturday 14 March. Please note this work will be taking place along a 5-mile section of track and therefore won’t be outside individual properties for an extended period of time.
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
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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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