Because of emergency engineering work, there will be severe disruption to passengers on services between Sheffield and Manchester Piccadilly for most of July and August.
So that the work can be carried out safely and quickly, the line will be closed from Saturday, 6 July until Sunday, 25 August.
The work is taking place at Hague Bar in New Mills in Derbyshire and is required to stabilise the ground that supports the railway.
To minimise the disruption, engineers have been working around the clock in preparation for the closure.
With the line between Sheffield and Manchester Piccadilly closed, there will inevitably be some changes to services in the area.
Between New Mills Central and Chinley stations
- Trains will be replaced by rail-replacement bus service
From Manchester to New Mills Central via Bredbury:
- Mondays to Saturdays – an hourly train service will run between Manchester Piccadilly and Marple, with a bus service running between Marple and Chinley.
- Sundays – an hourly bus service will run between Manchester Piccadilly, Bredbury, Marple and Chinley.
Between Chinley and Manchester Piccadilly
- Services will be diverted to run via Hazel Grove and Stockport
- A rail-replacement bus service will run between Chinley and Marple.
The urgency of the work has come about because there is a risk of 50,000 tonnes of earth falling from the railway into the River Goyt.
Foundations will be drilled into the ground and a wall built between the railway and the river to prevent further movement of the ground.
I'd advise passengers to check National Rail enquiries for travel advice in July and August for services between Manchester Piccadilly and Sheffield.
I'm sorry for the disruption the rail closure will cause passengers. The closure is the safest and quickest way for us to carry out the work so we can reopen the line fully to passengers as soon as possible.
Vitesh Solanki, Network Rail's scheme project manager
We'd like to thank our customers for their patience while this important, safety-critical work is carried out by Network Rail.
We'll do everything we can to make sure customers can still get where they want to be – but they should allow more time for their journeys.”
A spokesperson for Northern
Pity the Woodhead route isn’t open
So why has it already been closed for months ??
What’s been going on ?
Which company is doing the works?
Thanks for the info. Much better to have the disruption of temporary line closure than landslides and trains falling into the river.
The trains are just going the same way they have for months now between Sheffield and Manchester Piccadilly. So there’s no real change there. To be honest the local stopping service has gotten a lot better going through Stockport.