A major electrification project has seen a six-day closure for the railway between Wigan and Bolton, which has seen the rebuild of a bridge which will allow the installation of high-voltage overhead electricity cables.

The project has seen 17 structures on the railway altered alongside a new bridge at Hindley.

The new bridge replaces a former road bridge on Ladies Lane and was located right next to Hindley station.

Network Rail engineers spend last week demolishing the old bridge before using a huge crane to move the pre-cast concrete sections, creating a modern structure which will allow the installation of electric lines beneath it in 2024.

The £78 million electrification project will see 6.5 miles of railway with two lines operating in both directions, totalling 13 miles to be upgraded.

On completion, electric trains will be able to run, which will create a more environmentally friendly railway into the future that will support services for key towns in the North West.

Friday, the 30th of June saw trains return to normal service following six days of rail replacement buses for passengers travelling between Wigan and Bolton, although Hindley station is set to remain closed to passengers whilst improvement work is ongoing and will be underway until Friday the 24th of July.

Stephen Townley, Network Rail senior programme manager, said:“We’d like to thank passengers and residents for their patience and support whilst our engineering teams have been working around the clock to demolish and rebuild this complex bridge in Hindley. We know this has been disruptive for people in the local area with increased traffic and noise and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.”

“While the rail route has now reopened, trains still won’t call at Hindley station until Friday 24 July, as station improvements are still ongoing. Meanwhile, we’ll be continuing work on the new structure to reinstate various utilities services, install new lighting and lay road surfacing to restore the full carriageway over the summer so the new Ladies Lane bridge is ready for traffic and road users by the 1st September.”

Road users will still need to use the diversion, which is still active whilst work at Hindley continues.

Following this work, engineers will move on to Green Lane footbridge at Ince, which will see alterations made in order to support the electrification programme. Network Rail will be writing to residents regarding this work in due course, prior to work getting started during late summer.