As part of the Great North Rail Project, passengers travelling from Wigan North Western station to Manchester and Leeds, will soon be provided with a multi-million-pound platform extension to allow for longer and more reliable trains.
Platform 3 will be made longer so it can take four-carriage trains.
This will allow train operator Northern to deliver extra capacity for passengers and move more trains in and out of its newly built £46m train depot at Ince-in-Makerfield.
Network Rail are responsible for delivering the £4m platform extension scheme. The funding has come from the Department for Transport to develop reliability and performance of train services for passengers across the North West.
Jonathan Hepton, sponsor at Network Rail, said: “This platform extension is designed to put passengers first, helping to improve capacity on trains from Wigan into Manchester and across the Calder Valley into Leeds.
“It’s another example of the Great North Rail Project in action and will provide longer trains which means more seats for passengers.”
Zina Nomicas, general manager at Avanti West Coast, said: “We’re working with Network Rail and Northern to minimise the impact of the platform extension work.
“As always, our station team will be on hand to help, and we advise customers travelling to and from Wigan North Western during this time to double-check which platform their train is departing from. We would like to thank customers for their patience while the works take place.”
Chris Jackson, regional director at Northern, said: “This vital upgrade work, delivered as part of the Great North Rail Project, will allow us to fully realise the potential of our new Springs Branch depot at Ince. This will, in turn, enable us to provide additional capacity for customers and deliver the quality of rail service they expect and deserve.”
Image: Network Rail
