Rail passenger journeys and freight journeys are being made more reliable in Lancashire and Cumbria thanks to a Network Rail multi-million-pound investment.
The £3.4m Great North Rail Project upgrade will make overhead line equipment more reliable on the West Coast mainline between Preston and Carlisle.
Engineers will deliver 60 projects to improve the overhead lines over most weekends between now and March 2021.
Phil James, Network Rail's North West route director, said: “This major £3.4m investment of the overhead line equipment is an important upgrade to improve reliability for our passengers, and train and freight operating companies on the West Coast main line in Lancashire and Cumbria.
“Putting passengers first, we've brought in a specialist team that will work in the early hours of Sunday morning to get our overhead line equipment back into shape.
“This work as part of the Great North rail Project will improve the reliability of the West Coast main line to encourage tourists, holiday-makers, commuters and business people back on to the railway.”
Gus Dunster, executive director of operations at Avanti West Coast, said: “We know how important punctual and reliable journeys are to our customers, which is why we welcome Network Rail's work to improve overhead line equipment between Preston and Carlisle. The work will help to make journeys for millions of customers in Lancashire and Cumbria more reliable for many years to come.”
Kathryn O'Brien, customer experience director for TransPennine Express, said: “It is great to see the investment that Network Rail is putting into the overhead line equipment on the West Coast Mainline and we'd like to thank them for their hard work. The section of line between Preston and Carlisle is very well used and this project will definitely benefit our customers who travel between the North West of England and Scotland .”
New engineers are also being trained to operate and repair the overhead line equipment.
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I’m not taking any notice from Richard Harman.
Network Rail should also electrify to Stalybridge and to replace the 1950s overhead wires on the Ardwick-Hatfield and Gosslop lines.
Told you he’d be here.
Fear not the “Anonymous user” will be here soon .
Keep your business out pal.
Maybe because the overhead wires on the West Coast Main Line have had problems before with the heatwaves and weather. And probably needs to be fixed and replace. With plans for more electrification in England and Wales.