09.11.17
'Iconic' Ordsall Chord completed by Network Rail
Manchester’s three main railway stations have been connected for the first time today with the completion of the Ordsall Chord.
The historic centre piece of the Great North Rail Project, the Ordsall Chord bridge, will join Manchester’s Piccadilly, Oxford Road and Victoria stations together.
Located on the birthplace of the modern inter-city railway, where George Stephenson first unveiled the Liverpool-Manchester railway almost 200 years ago, the bridge will serve customers across the north of England.
Passengers as far as Newcastle will benefit from quick direct services to Manchester airport.
Rail minister, Paul Maynard, installed the final rail clip into the world’s first asymmetric rail bridge, marking its completion.
He said: “The new Ordsall Chord is a major milestone for the Great North Rail Project and forms a key part of this government’s £13bn investment in transport in the north.
“The construction of this new iconic bridge has supported 2,000 jobs, including new apprentices and graduates and will provide new and direct links to Manchester Airport from across the region.
“By 2020, the Great North Rail Project will deliver faster and more comfortable journeys, with new trains, extra carriages and more than 2,000 extra services a week.”
The first passenger train will run across the bridge next month.
Martin Frobisher, LNW route managing director at Network Rail, called the completion of the bridge a “seminal moment in the Great North Rail Project.”
He added: “Team Orange is mirroring the vision of George Stephenson for the benefit of the communities we serve for generations to come.”
Northern’s regional director, Liam Sumpter, called the opening of the Ordsall Chord “a landmark moment for rail travel in the north of England.”
He continued: “Thanks to the work of the Great North Rail Project we will be able to run services from Calder Valley direct through to Manchester Oxford Road.
“But this is just the start. We will soon have 281 new, purpose-built, Northern carriages running across our network.
“We will introduce 2000 extra services a week and all will call at better stations with modernised facilities.
“The Ordsall Chord will help pave the way for many of these improvements and heralds what promises an exciting future for rail travel in the region.”
Lee Goodwin, managing director at TransPennine Express said that the company would be investing £500m in brand new trains for the new rail link.
Chair of Rail North, Councillor Liam Robinson, explained the importance of such projects: “It is investment like this and in other major programmes, such as Northern Powerhouse Rail, that will ensure the North gets the rail network that it needs and deserves.”
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