All change at Blackpool
BEN JONES is beside the seaside to report on the railway upgrade at the North West’s premier resort
BLACKPOOL’S railways are undergoing their biggest changes for decades, as the line from Preston to the Fylde Coast is resignalled and prepared for electrification over the coming months.
This aerial view of Blackpool North station, with the town’s landmark tower looming between it and the promenade, will change radically during an 18-week engineering blockade that started on November 11 (as this issue of RAIL was going to press).
Modernisation work includes remodelling Blackpool North’s platforms, track layout and track alterations at Kirkham & Wesham (the junction for the Blackpool South branch), and replacement of 84 signals and five ex-Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway (LYR) mechanical signal boxes.
Salwick No. 2, Kirkham North Junction, Poulton-le-Fylde No. 3, Carleton Crossing and Blackpool North No. 2, all dating from the late 19th/early 20th century, were abolished overnight on November 10 and replaced by signalling controlled from Manchester Rail Operating Centre.
Other work on the route will include remodelling and electrifying Blackpool North carriage sidings and modernising them to service Northern electric multiple units, station upgrades, bridge and structure clearance for electrification, securing embankments, vegetation clearance, installing overhead line equipment (OLE), and renewing track and pointwork.
To allow the work to proceed unchecked, both lines to Blackpool will be closed from November 11 until January 28, while the Kirkham-Blackpool North section will remain closed until March 25.
As part of the £1 billion Great North Rail Project, the 17-mile route will open to electric trains in May 2018, allowing Northern to replace diesel units on the Manchester-Blackpool route with Class 319s and (from 2019) its new CAF Class 331 EMUs.
Virgin West Coast plans to introduce three weekday train pairs to/from Euston in May using Class 390 Pendolino sets, and these could be joined in 2019 by six Class 91-powered IC225 trains per day, if Alliance Rail’s proposed open access service comes to fruition.