Following the completion of several engineering projects by Network Rail over the Christmas and New Year period, rail services between London and Scotland via the West Midlands and North West have fully resumed. The work on the busy West Coast Main Line corridor was aimed at improving reliability for both passengers and freight.
The infrastructure improvements are expected to improve the reliability of services along the West Coast Main Line and support the future electrification of trains in the Greater Manchester area. The £20 million upgrade includes:
- Completing of a two-year signalling upgrade at Crewe, improving connectivity to a major freight depot.
- Electrification progress on the Wigan-Bolton line, with 25,000 volt overhead lines activated for the first time.
- Upgrading the track in a historic tunnel near Berkhamsted and improving the track at Birmingham New Street Station.
- Installation of a scaffold bridge for the diversion of utility services at the Greek Street roundabout in Stockport ahead of the replacement of the bridge next summer.
- Upgrading of overhead line equipment in central Manchester and on the West Coast Main Line.
- Improvements to the track drainage system near Milton Keynes and improvements between Watford and Milton Keynes.
“The completed mammoth projects, which included the modernisation the traffic lights of the railway and overhead line equipment in Crewe, the start of works to rebuild a overbridge on Stockport’s high street and the electrification of the Wigan to Lostock Junction railway, were designed to drive up the reliability of passenger and freight services right across the West Coast Main Line and into Greater Manchester,“ said Phil James, Network Rail’s North West route director.
