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Network Rail is investing over £100m to deliver greener and more reliable rail journeys in the North West. We are upgrading the railway between Wigan and Bolton, which involves electrifying the route and carrying out signalling improvements between Lostock Junction and Wigan North Western station. This project update is designed to give you an overview of upcoming work in the area as we continue to improve the railway between Wigan and Bolton, as part of our electrification scheme.
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Ince
Ince Green Lane bridge replacement
The work to prepare for replacing Ince Green Lane bridge will start on Monday 22 April and will take until November to complete. During this time the road bridge will be closed and a diversion route will be in place for road users, shown on the map below.
A temporary walkway will be provided to the south of the existing bridge during the construction work, to give pedestrians access over the railway line. This will be in use from 15 July for pedestrians only. Before this, we will be undertaking utility diversions and pedestrians will still be able to access across Ince Green Lane bridge safely.
Access for cars and motorcycles will not be permitted from Monday 22 April until Friday 15 November across Ince Green Lane railway bridge. Cyclists must dismount to cross the bridge and temporary walkway, once in use.
Ince station temporary closure
Ince station will be closed from 2 June until late 2024 so the footbridge accessing the station can be replaced and its platforms can be extended to increase capacity for passengers. Trains will continue to run on both the Atherton and Westhoughton routes between Wigan and Manchester but they will not stop at Ince.
Impact to buses
To accommodate our work, Transport for Greater Manchester has updated its bus timetables. You can access the updated bus timetables in full at https://beenetwork.com
Bus routes with changes are:
· 630: retimed and rerouted
· 948: will now also call at Dean Trust Rose Bridge on its way to and from St John Fisher HS and serve
as a shared school bus
· 947 and 948: retimed and rerouted
Ince Green Lane diversion route in place for road users from 22 April 2024
For those travelling from the Ince Green Lane side of the bridge closure, you will be directed to follow A577 Manchester Road towards Wigan, turning left at Warrington Road, until you reach Manley Street where the diversion ends.
For those travelling from the Manley Street side of the bridge closure, you will be directed right onto Warrington Road towards Wigan and right on A577 Manchester Road.
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Chulsey Gate
We would like to thank residents within Chew Moor for their patience whilst we complete the reconstruction of the bridge on Chulsey Gate Lane. The new bridge is now in place and we are completing our final pieces of work in this area, before we demobilise and return our compound site back to its original use. To complete our work, our road closure on Chulsey Gate Lane is required until 12 June.
In addition to the bridge closure, 24 hour working is required from 11pm on Friday 3 May until 4am Monday 6 May to install pre-cast concrete units, forming some of the bridge parapet walls. Due to the size of these units, the work will be undertaken from our compound using a 450 tonne crane.
During this time, we will have banksmen in attendance on the temporary footbridge who will be managing all movements over the footbridge during the crane lifting operations. We would kindly ask that members of the public do not use the footbridge as a viewing platform, to ensure their safety and the safety of our workforce.
We anticipate increased noise levels as we work through the night and apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. We will be installing temporary lighting, which will be directed inwards to our site and away from any neighbouring properties to minimise disruption.
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Hindley
We would like to share our congratulations, from all those at Network Rail and Kier, to Friends of Hindley who won a platinum award in the ‘It’s Your Station’ category at the Community Rail Awards. This award goes some way in demonstrating the value brought to the railway by the Friends of Hindley station adopters and highlights the hugely positive impact Sheila, Sandy and the team have on the community.
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Completing our work at Hindley Station and Ladies Lane
We are now nearing completion of our work at Hindley station and on Ladies Lane bridge. We thank you for your continued patience throughout.
Update on Deep Pit pedestrian footbridge
We have now submitted our consent applications to make changes to the Deep Pit pedestrian footbridge. The design option we have taken forward is to raise the existing span and make changes to the approaches: a new ramp to the south with a compliant gradient, and a combined stepped and ramped design to the north. The combined design to the north will retain as much of the existing path as possible, whilst improving accessibility.
You can access our application on the Council website. The application reference for the Listed Building Consent is A/24/96990/LB and the reference for our Prior Approval application is A/24/96992/18PDA.
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Westhoughton Station
Our team has begun working on the platform extension at Westhoughton station, with a small site compound within the station car park. To date, our team has been working on foundation, retaining wall and drainage installation for the platform extensions, bringing the disused platform back into use and up to modern standards, as well as relocating the ticket vending machine.
In the next few weeks, we will start the brickwork and coper installation for both platforms. We are working both day and night shifts to accelerate our programme, whilst ensuring the station remains open. We are required to complete any work that interfaces with the track during the night, whilst the railway is not in operation.
High Barn bridge
To prepare for the raising of High Barn bridge later this year, Electricity North West is required to undertake utility works in advance. To enable this work, there will be a road closure in place from Monday 22 until Wednesday 24 May, and again from Saturday 28 until Monday 30 May. Working hours will be from 7am to 7pm, although the road closure for vehicles will remain in place for 24 hours a day to ensure the safety of the public. Whilst road closures are in place there will be a fully signed diversion route for road users.
A further road closure will be required from 10pm Saturday 28 June until 5am Monday 30 June.
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Foundation installation (piling)
Piling works are happening along the route as we prepare to install the Overhead Line Equipment, that began in March 2024.
Piling is the process of installing foundations for the equipment used to electrify the railway. The work is usually undertaken overnight, whilst trains are not operational and is often the loudest work completed on the railway. Our confirmed upcoming dates for our piling activities have been provided on page one of this newsletter. All piling is due for completion by June. These dates are subject to change. Find out more at:
www.networkrail.co.uk/communities/living-by-the-railway/electrification/piling
OLE installation
To install the Overhead Line Equipment, we routinely work overnight, whilst the railway is not operational, as on-track plant and machinery are required to lift the heavy materials. The OLE is installed in three stages:
· Mast and cantilever installation, taking around two weeks
· Installation of Small Part Steelworks, taking around 4 weeks
· Wiring, taking around 2 weeks
Our programme is now ongoing until November, taking place over a large section each evening so when we are working within your area we do not expect disturbance to last the full duration of our planned works. We have provided our upcoming programme on page one.
To complete our work we typically use Mobile Elevating Work Platforms (MEWPs) and Road Rail Vehicles. This plant, along with the materials we use, can cause noise and disruption.
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Vegetation management
As we continue to create additional lineside space to install Overhead Line Equipment through our vegetation management programme, our priority is to protect ecology along the railway corridor. By having an ecologist on site during our works and by undertaking surveys in advance, we have been able to identify nesting birds and protected species. Where we identify wildlife, we establish exclusion zones to protect their habitat during our work and develop new habitats to provide a long term solution.
In the picture below is one of the two new Newt habitats we have created whilst delivering this project, alongside newly planted saplings.
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In additon to protecting ecology, we have been working with local schools and charities to donate wood chipping and timber, generated from the vegetation management programme.
The vegetation works are ongoing during days and nights whilst the railway is not in operation. To account for nesting bird season March through September, we have an ecologist on site to identify nesting birds and set up ecological exclusion zones.
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Our new digital update service
All dates detailed are in 2024, indicative of our current programme and are subject to change. As part of our commitment to put communities first we have developed a new notification service and are encouraging all residents to sign up to our digital notification service to get the most up to date information about our works and continue receiving these newsletters and other project updates. All future newsletter updates will only be provided digitally. You can sign up for digital notifications at any time.
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I hope this information is helpful and we apologise for any inconvenience these works may cause.
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Thanks,
Network Rail Contact & Community Team
Network Rail national helpline: 03457 11 41 41
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