Manchester to Preston route closed at weekends until July

[Upton]

just found this on The Northern Rail website.

https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/n...ster-bolton-preston-route-improvement-works-2

Work to complete the Manchester to Preston railway upgrade is continuing, alongside work on other key parts of the Great North Rail Project, in 2018.

Continuing every weekend for the forseeable future, Network Rail engineers will be working to complete the upgrade of the 25-mile stretch of track between Manchester and Preston to support the introduction of better trains.

The project was due to complete last December, but old mine workings, running sand and varying layers of rock have significantly hampered the installation of hundreds of steel columns needed to carry the power cables for the introduction of electric trains. New engineering solutions have been required to resolve the problems which has included using steel cylinders and filling them with concrete to deal with poor ground conditions

To allow engineers to access the railway, sections will need to be closed during some weekdays and every weekend. This will affect journeys in and out of Manchester from destinations including Edinburgh, Glasgow, Oxenholme, Penrith, Lancaster, Preston, Liverpool, Wigan, Chorley and Bolton. There will also likely be further closures when the work is being tested and trains are put in to service.

The work will mean major changes for our customers travelling across the region, including rail replacement buses in some areas. Network Rail are currently working to finalise full details and will provide further updates as soon as possible...

However, Trans Pennine have not said anything on their website. Presumably they wouldn’t be running trains on this route at weekends?

 

[northwichcat]

TPE services will continue to be 350s operating via Chat Moss and Wigan until Network Rail fully wire the Bolton route.

 

[yorksrob]

The Atherton route seems to have been hit for a large proportion of this time as well. Is there a reason why it's closed for such a large proportion of the time, given that it's not being electrified ?

 

[td97]

The Atherton route seems to have been hit for a large proportion of this time as well. Is there a reason why it's closed for such a large proportion of the time, given that it's not being electrified ?

Work at the southern end of the route, around Salford Crescent and MCV

 

[yorksrob]

Work at the southern end of the route, around Salford Crescent and MCV

Six months for Salford Crescent ! Goodness knows what they must have found there then !

 

[Chester1]

Work at the southern end of the route, around Salford Crescent and MCV

Six months for Salford Crescent ! Goodness knows what they must have found there then !

I think its supposed to be for access too. considering that the shared track is less than a mile they could have organised things differently to allow the line to stay open. It would certainly make it easier to provide an adequate timetable to Wigan. The same approach could have allowed a Wigan-Bolton-Blackburn service too.

 

[yorksrob]

I think its supposed to be for access too. considering that the shared track is less than a mile they could have organised things differently to allow the line to stay open. It would certainly make it easier to provide an adequate timetable to Wigan. The same approach could have allowed a Wigan-Bolton-Blackburn service too.

I have friends in Atherton for whom it's certainly been a nuisance. I can't help thinking NR's convenience seems to have been given priority.

 

[Jonny]

Work at the southern end of the route, around Salford Crescent and MCV

So the Atherton route has been blocked off as a result? Is that a lack of suitable turnback facilities?

 

[Mathew S]

So the Atherton route has been blocked off as a result? Is that a lack of suitable turnback facilities?

There is, if memory serves (I may be incorrect), a crossover between Walkden and Moorside, so logically it would be possible to run Wigan to Walkden. I'm sure someone who knows way, way more than I do will be able to explain why this isn't possible though.

 

[yorksrob]

Surely for most of the time, the Atherton service could run through to Oxford Road ? The section at Salford Crescent itself can't require work for the whole six months.

 

[The Planner]

Could depend on how close they are working to Salford Crescent itself, where the protection for the work has to be placed and where they can stand engineering trains if required.

 

[yorksrob]

Could depend on how close they are working to Salford Crescent itself, where the protection for the work has to be placed and where they can stand engineering trains if required.

This would indeed be a good justification for the closure on some of the weekends, but surely not the whole six months !

Unless we're talking about six months of work concentrated in the area immediately North of Salford Crescent of course. But given it's in the nature of electrification projects to progress along the route, this seems unlikely.

 

[WatcherZero]

Weekend closures Sat/Sun 7th and 21st April cancelled.

 

[Peter749]

I believe they have moved the staff to the Preston - Blackpool section to finish the work on that line.

Peter

 

[td97]

I believe they have moved the staff to the Preston - Blackpool section to finish the work on that line.

Peter

Do you have a source for this? As far as I am aware, there are completely different contractors working on the 2 sections.

• Preston-Blackpool is VolkerRail
• Manchester-Preston is Amey Rail (was Carillion)