Weekend closure of rail stations between Manchester Victoria and Littleborough

Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 April will see the second of five consecutive weekend closures of rail stations between Manchester Victoria and Littleborough, as engineers continue to install 1,200m of new track. A bus replacement service will be in operation.

Sunday also marks the end of the first stage of the ambitious Ordsall Chord project, which required the closure of Manchester Victoria on successive Sunday’s since 24 January 2016, in preparation of linking it with Manchester Piccadilly rail station for the first time.

Sunday will also see disruption to tram services as work continues to provide passengers with essential service improvements in preparation for the new Metrolink Second City crossing, meaning: 

• No trams will be running along the Bury line. Bus replacement services will be in operation.
• Trams running on the Rochdale line will terminate at Central Park. A bus replacement service will be in operation between Central Park and Piccadilly.
• Trams will not be operating across the city, meaning buses will run between Piccadilly and Deansgate-Castlefield. 

Manchester United, Lancashire County Cricket Club and Sale Sharks all have home fixtures this weekend and anyone attending these or other events is advised to plan their journey in advance and allow extra time.

Transport for Greater Manchester’s Events Manager, John Fryer, said: “Greater Manchester’s transport network is undergoing major transformation and unfortunately it’s impossible to deliver the improvements without affecting services.

“We are working closely with operators to coordinate work and minimise disruption and full bus replacement services will be in operation.

“The best advice I can give people this weekend is to plan their journey in advance and if possible allow a little extra time.”

Terry Strickland, area director at Network Rail 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. 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 remaining four weekends to deliver these improvements and we’d like to thank passengers in advance for their patience.”

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