Buxton rail passengers thanked as railway reopens in Whaley Bridge

Today, Wednesday March, 1 trains are once again running between Hazel Grove and Buxton after railway engineers replaced a Victorian railway bridge.

And as work has progressed quicker than planned from today pedestrians can now go under the new structure, four days earlier than expected.

Helena Williams, Network Rail project manager, said: “I’d really like to thank passengers and local people for their patience while we’ve been making Buxton Road bridge fit for the future. I do hope that when people see this new structure they will be impressed and understand why we’ve had to carry out this essential work.

“We will still be working on the underside of the bridge throughout March so road diversions will still be in place, but I'm pleased to say we've been able to reopen the footpath today instead of Sunday as we had originally expected, reconnecting the town's main thoroughfare for pedestrians."

Network Rail is investing £5.1m to replace and rebuild the heritage structure to secure the railway link for decades to come.

Since Saturday February, 18, 90 people from 15 separate contractors have worked 24 hours a day to remove the old railway lines, demolish the old cast iron and concrete bridge structure and carefully crane the new steel into place.

Construction on a new bridge deck from pre-cast concrete panels has finished and 45 tonnes of cast iron was removed during the demolition of the old railway bridge.

Engineers on site explained how complications with demolishing the former 160-year-old structure meant an extra day was needed to rebuild the railway lines above.

Chris Jackson, regional director at Northern, said: “All investment in rail infrastructure is to be welcomed and I would like to thank customers for their patience and understanding whilst these improvements have been made between Hazel Grove and Buxton.”

Further painting, masonry work and road sign installation will take place over the coming weeks to ensure the new bridge is safe for road users below.

So this can be carried out Buxton Road will remain closed to traffic until Friday 31 March.

All work is expected to be complete by April 2023.