Severe rail disruptions for next five weekends

Rochdale Station

Severe disruptions are expected on rail services between Rochdale and Manchester for the next five weekends as work continues on a new track.

Northern Rail will be running replacement bus services between Manchester Victoria and Littleborough stations as works are underway.

Parts of the line are being remodelled to link a new platform at Rochdale Station to the rail network as part of Network Rail’s £1bn+ Northern Programme investment in the north of England.

Area director at Network Rail Terry Strickland said: “The introduction of the new platform at Rochdale station will help contribute to reduced journey times through the area and free up much needed capacity at Manchester Victoria, both of which help provide passengers with a better rail service in the region.

“We are investing more than £1bn to deliver a faster, more reliable and better connected railway to millions of passengers across the north of England.

“To deliver these long-term benefits, there has to be some short-term disruption.”

Since January Network Rail staff have been working through the night when trains are not running and taking advantage of the weekly Sunday closures of Manchester Victoria to build the new platform at Rochdale station but they say these closures are unavoidable.

Mr Strickland added: “We are working closely with the train operators and doing all we can to keep the inconvenience to a minimum.

“We will be working day and night over the next five weekends to deliver these improvements and we’d like to thank passengers in advance for their patience.”

Richard Greenwood, from local rail pressure group STORM, said: “Work is now proceeding on a single bay at the Manchester end of Rochdale station. As work has started it has become apparent that a loop could easily be provided, albeit shorter than the 900 yards originally proposed.

"The up Manchester bound mainline will swing away from the existing platform three and face immediately west of the concrete bridge over the underpass. This gives the opportunity to incorporate a turnout in the platform three track work facing into the new bay platform line.”

Nick Spall, route delivery director for Network Rail, said: “I would like to thank passengers for their patience and would urge them to check before they travel with National Rail Enquiries or their train operator for the latest information.”