Upgrade to close Preston to Blackpool line for 19-week blockade
The Preston to Blackpool North and South railway is to close for 19 weeks from November 11, as work gets under way to electrify and upgrade it.
The approaches to Blackpool North are to be remodelled to reduce conflicting movements, with platforms lengthened and straightened. Kirkham & Wesham station is to gain a new platform, footbridge and lifts, and the junction to Blackpool South will also be remodelled.
Both routes to Blackpool will be resignalled, which involves the closure of signal boxes at Salwick, Kirkham, Poulton, Carleton and Blackpool North. Eighty-four new signals will be installed, and the routes controlled from the Manchester Rail Operating Centre.
More than 11km (6.8 miles) of track will be replaced, and 1,000 overhead line equipment masts installed to support more than 200km (125 miles) of catenary. Blackpool depot will be remodelled and electrified to cater for electric trains.
The route between Blackpool North and Preston will reopen from January 29, while Kirkham to Blackpool North will reopen on March 26. Electric services are due to start in May 2018, following the timetable change. Buses will replace trains throughout the closure.
Network Rail’s London North Western Route Managing Director Martin Frobisher said: “As Blackpool’s economy grows, the railway is growing too. We are working with the wider industry and our Blackpool region partners to keep the people of Blackpool and the Fylde on the move throughout the closure.
“There is never a good time to carry out this type of work, but we have planned it to take place outside of the main holiday season so it causes the least impact. I am confident the short-term pain will certainly be worth the long-term gain of transformed train travel in future.”