Wigan-Bolton electrification. Construction updates only please

[Pinus contorta]

There's a report in the local paper about a campaign to install platforms on the Wigan branch at Lostock. Would make sense to do that at the same time as electrification, but I don't suppose it's in the plans?

They talked about doing this 30 years ago ( or whenever it was) as the other platforms were being constructed. Obviously there's a lot more housing been built in the mean time. I think the PTE said that one service each way per hour would suffice.

 

[Howardh]

They talked about doing this 30 years ago ( or whenever it was) as the other platforms were being constructed. Obviously there's a lot more housing been built in the mean time. I think the PTE said that one service each way per hour would suffice.

That's just what we are getting at the moment off-peak. Used to be two. No idea if they will return to 2 tph, really wish they would as I would use it. There's a new bus the 573/574 which stops within 10 mins walking distance, I could use that to Lostock but the timings are totally out of sync. Unfortunately buses can't get any closer (unless they u-turn as bustitutions do) as the bridge has limited access now and buses are probably too heavy.
Any news on strengthening that bridge at lostock?

 

[Pinus contorta]

That's just what we are getting at the moment off-peak. Used to be two. No idea if they will return to 2 tph, really wish they would as I would use it. There's a new bus the 573/574 which stops within 10 mins walking distance, I could use that to Lostock but the timings are totally out of sync. Unfortunately buses can't get any closer (unless they u-turn as bustitutions do) as the bridge has limited access now and buses are probably too heavy.
Any news on strengthening that bridge at lostock?

I think I had to take a long walk from the bus stop on Chorley New Road to have a look at the station being built and the signal box. It was right at the far end of where the car park is now. The SB was on borrowed time by then. I can't remember what state the bridges were in. It was 30 years ago....

 

[PDG1949]

Whilst waiting for news on the current electrification progress, I came across these two items on YouTube about 769s which might be of interest.

The first is a presentation about the 769 Flex, which goes into some illustrated detail on the conversion of a 319 by Aidan Diver

The second is a ride from Alderley Edge through to Southport on a 769. Unfortunately it's a 'passenger window' and not a 'cab' ride

 

[WatcherZero]

How is Lostock Junction on the Bolton to Manchester corridor? It’s north of Bolton!

The Bolton-Manchester corridor actually runs to Preston and Blackburn. Its name refers to the direction of approach into Manchester city centre.

 

[LDECRexile]

Bridge 7 has been completed and formally opened by local schoolgirls (after appropriate training on how to safely cut a ribbon.)

Wrinkley and I passed under it yesterday, it looks the biz.

The only other sign of work on the route visible from a train is clearance work around a bridge nearer Lostock.

The great news was made public in "Modern Railways" April 2022 pp26-27 which stated that following vigorous review "...only one bridge will require reconstruction for electrical clearance. Two more will need to be reconstructed because of condition. At a stroke this has reduced the cost to under £15 million."

Apologies if this has already been discussed. The article is a must for anyone who has despaired at the cost of schemes and the hammer blow it has dealt to a widespread or even infill electrification programme.

Whist it is technically off thread, we noticed that the 769 ran on diesel throughout from Wigan to Stalybridge, including under the wires. Wrinkley understands there has been an electrical interference issue with signals.

 

[PDG1949]

Bridge 7 has been completed and formally opened by local schoolgirls (after appropriate training on how to safely cut a ribbon.)

Wrinkley and I passed under it yesterday, it looks the biz.

The only other sign of work on the route visible from a train is clearance work around a bridge nearer Lostock.

The great news was made public in "Modern Railways" April 2022 pp26-27 which stated that following vigorous review "...only one bridge will require reconstruction for electrical clearance. Two more will need to be reconstructed because of condition. At a stroke this has reduced the cost to under £15 million."

Apologies if this has already been discussed. The article is a must for anyone who has despaired at the cost of schemes and the hammer blow it has dealt to a widespread or even infill electrification programme.

Whist it is technically off thread, we noticed that the 769 ran on diesel throughout from Wigan to Stalybridge, including under the wires. Wrinkley understands there has been an electrical interference issue with signals.

Great news ! I wonder if this will speed things up and maybe the job might be finished earlier ??

 

[WatcherZero]

Bridge 7 has been completed and formally opened by local schoolgirls (after appropriate training on how to safely cut a ribbon.)

Did H&S demand safety scissors were used?

 

[snowball]

Apart from the replacement of Chew Moor bridge, has anything visible happened on this project?

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Glad you asked. I wanted to know too. I would have taken a tour while back in the UK but family commitments made it close to impossible. I will do full tour at Xmas.

 

[507020]

I’ve been on the line recently and was thinking the same thing. There’s nothing obvious I can see other than the new bridge to the farmer’s field and Sunday service seems to have resumed, when it’s supposed to be engineering possessions every Sunday for electrification.

 

[snowball]

The most favourable interpretation I can put on the evidence is that they had this period pencilled in for further bridge alterations but decided they were unnecessary (see #125) and that actual electrification work will follow on after Stalybridge is completed - whenever that may be.

 

[Gricer99]

I've heard locally that the bridge at Hindley Station will be completely renewed, necessitating the closure of Hall Lane and Ladies Lane at the station for 4 to 6 weeks and a very long traffic diversion via Aspull and Whelley or Westhoughton. Can anyone confirm this?

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

I'd forgotten about the piece of electrification and certainly hasn't generating the posts MML and East Kilbride is.

 

[snowball]

I'd forgotten about the piece of electrification and certainly hasn't generating the posts MML and East Kilbride is.

That may be because the only visible thing to have happened on the ground to date is one bridge replacement.

 

[td97]

I've heard locally that the bridge at Hindley Station will be completely renewed

The soffit height is significantly below the minimum for OLE routes.
This project is taking advantage of Voltage Clearance Control studies/modelling, but unfortunately not every bridge can be saved.
The good news is that the project team is taking a hard stance against maintenance who have neglected assets in expectation of the electrification project picking up the bill for overdue structure replacements (à la GWEP & NWEP).

I'd forgotten about the piece of electrification and certainly hasn't generating the posts MML and East Kilbride is.

That may be because the only visible thing to have happened on the ground to date is one bridge replacement.

Piling is due to start at the beginning of next year

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

The good news is that the project team is taking a hard stance against maintenance who have neglected assets in expectation of the electrification project picking up the bill for overdue structure replacements (à la GWEP & NWEP).

Thats good but risks further disruption when those assets need attention so whilst i totally agree it shouldn't be contributing to the electrification cost there really ought to be total route view being taken.

 

[Mollman]

Thats good but risks further disruption when those assets need attention so whilst i totally agree it shouldn't be contributing to the electrification cost there really ought to be total route view being taken.

Depends what stance they are taking. Sensible approach would be to just bill maintenance for work they should have undertaken but left to electrification team to do.

 

[WatcherZero]

I've heard locally that the bridge at Hindley Station will be completely renewed, necessitating the closure of Hall Lane and Ladies Lane at the station for 4 to 6 weeks and a very long traffic diversion via Aspull and Whelley or Westhoughton. Can anyone confirm this?

At Daisy Hill the bridge deck is worn out and needs replacing (those bollards arent protecting pedestrians they are limiting how many vehicles can occupy it), the height would also have been raised for future electrification. Bolton Council were supposed to lead on procurement and a 12 month road closure planning permission was granted in early 2020 but nothing happened. Would have involved a many mile diversion of over half an hour.

Then mid 2021 Network Rail decided that it could still take 40 tons for a few more years as long as the vehicles were in the centre of the bridge and therefore it didn't need urgent replacement.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

This one I assume?

 

[Geeves]

The extra issue at Daisy Hill is that the station building is connected to the road bridge at the high level and will presumably need to go? Not an issue for wires for now I suppose. I am interested in the final plans for Hindley too

 

[td97]

View attachment 120802
This one I assume?

There seems to be a lot of confusion after Daisy Hill was brought up. Yes that is Hindley station, but your photo is a wall at the side of the station building.

The "problem" bridge is the masonry arch bridge at the station front. There's good context with the compliant footbridge in the foreground from this view

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

maps.app.goo.gl

 

[snowball]

There seems to be a lot of confusion after Daisy Hill was brought up. Yes that is Hindley station, but your photo is a wall at the side of the station building.

The "problem" bridge is the masonry arch bridge at the station front. There's good context with the compliant footbridge in the foreground from this view

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

maps.app.goo.gl

and seen from the road it looks like this, with the bollards that Watcher may have been thinking of:

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.co.uk

Daisy Hill is on nearby but on the Atherton line (off topic) and looks like this:

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.co.uk

 

[Pinus contorta]

This was getting really confusing. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[scragend]

and seen from the road it looks like this, with the bollards that Watcher may have been thinking of:

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.co.uk

Daisy Hill is on nearby but on the Atherton line (off topic) and looks like this:

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.co.uk

The bollards in the photo outside Hindley station are nothing to do with the bridge; they are traffic calming measures and there are several sets all the way down Ladies Lane.

WatcherZero was referring to the bollards/barriers outside Daisy Hill, which yes is off topic as far as the Wigan-Bolton electrification is concerned. But I didn't know that they were there to limit traffic on the bridge (presumably preventing people from stopping outside the station building). I assumed they'd been put there when all the rail replacement buses were running, so that people could queue for the buses behind them.

 

[WatcherZero]

Kinda, the bollards at Daisy Hill are there to stop vehicles driving onto the pavement as the bridges outer deck spans cannot take the weight (under the road surface the bridge is a trapezoid formed of 4 longitudal deck spans, the two outer ones are supporting the bridge parapets and cant take additional vehicle weight).

Had a look and no planning applications or road closure notices for Hindley bridge works yet.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

There seems to be a lot of confusion after Daisy Hill was brought up. Yes that is Hindley station, but your photo is a wall at the side of the station building.

Thanks for the clarification. I know money is tight but it sure would make sense to me if repairs such as this etc could all happen during the upgrade.

 

[zwk500]

Thanks for the clarification. I know money is tight but it sure would make sense to me if repairs such as this etc could all happen during the upgrade.

When NR rebuild a bridge and improvements are made, will NR only pay the price of what was there with the additional costs (small they may be) being supplied from elsewhere, or will NR foot the bill for the whole lot?

Apologies if this should really go in a new thread.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Clearly the whole line is in need of an upgrade and not just electrification.

 

[AMD]

Piling is due to start at the beginning of next year

Possibly sooner, there were overnight possessions this past week and there are patches in the cess about every 50m where ground clearance has taken place ready for piling.