Railway workers took time out from the Wigan to Bolton electrification upgrade project to help out at a community garden in Hindley, Greater Manchester.

Thirteen staff, from Network Rail, Northern and contractor Murphy and Kier, worked alongside the Friends of Hindley for six hours on Wednesday 18 October.

They were assisting with the maintenance of the station’s award-winning flowerbeds, and carried out tasks including weeding, strimming, cutting back overhanging branches, painting and tidying up the space ahead of the winter.

The three railway companies are aware of the inconvenience caused to Hindley residents by work on the upgrade this year, and chose to express their thanks by providing some much-needed labour in the community garden.

Hindley station is on the Manchester to Southport Line, west of where the route branches to the Atherton line and the Eastern Branch line. It is fourteen miles west of Manchester Victoria.

Ladies Lane, near the station, closed for several months over the summer while workers demolished and rebuilt its bridge and made improvements to the station. Although Ladies Lane reopened last month, work is continuing on the sides of the bridge and the embankments.

The work is part of a £78m investment to improve a 6.5-mile stretch of railway (thirteen miles in total) by installing overhead electric lines to enable electric trains to run between Wigan and Bolton.

Sarah Bull, Network Rail sponsor, said: “It’s been great to get out and work together with members of the community as a way to thank them for their patience after all of our disruptive work in the area this year.

“Fortunately our work in Hindley is nearly finished with the station platform improvements and new bridge built to allow for newer, greener trains to one day run between Wigan and Bolton.”

Sheila Davidson, from the Friends of Hindley station, said: ”We really appreciate the days where Network Rail, Northern and the contractors are here to give us a hand. It’s a huge garden on both sides of the tracks, plus our allotment, so there’s lots of work to do, but the team did a great job.”