23.03.17
Bolton platform works start ahead of electric train introduction
Improvements to Bolton station that will accommodate for the new electrified railway will be started next week by Network Rail (NR).
The works will begin on Sunday 26 March and are the latest in plans to provide quicker services through the station when electric trains are rolled out in Bolton from December 2017.
Last year, the line between Preston and Bolton was closed for four months on weekends to allow engineers to put new overhead equipment in place for the electrification upgrade work.
Explaining the works that will be carried out, Terry Strickland, area director for NR, said: “We are investing heavily in Bolton as part of our national Railway Upgrade Plan to provide passengers with the railway that will meet their needs for decades to come as well as help boost the economy across the north of England.
“To deliver it, significant engineering is required to improve the track layout, rebuild platforms, cut back canopies and make space for new equipment to power electric trains through Bolton from December 2017.
“We are also reinstating platform 5, which has been out of use since the early 1990s, to allow more trains to run between Manchester and Preston. The work is vital to modernising the railway and will help to create better, faster and more frequent journeys for passengers in Bolton.”
Work has already begun on reinstating a fifth platform at Bolton as the project moves into the next phase, which involves reconstructing the station’s existing platforms and canopies.
From 26 March, parts of platforms one and three will be fenced off to allow the improvements to be made, meaning that there will be alterations to passenger walking routes around the station
Services will run in and out of Bolton as normal for the duration of the improvements to the station.
Liam Sumpter, regional director for Northern, said: “We made a commitment to improve rail services for all customers, and the proposed improvements at Bolton – which are already taking shape following the introduction of the gatelines – are just one way in which we are delivering on that commitment.
“Of course, there is more work to be done,” Sumpter admitted. “We are improving the carriages on our network, introducing new carriages and developing stations as part of a modernisation scheme that will, when complete, deliver a railway fit for the 21st century.”
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