Better rail journeys arriving in 2018 The Great North Rail Project between Preston and Blackpool 26 January 2018

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1 Better rail journeys arriving in 2018 The Great North Rail Project between Preston and Blackpool 26 January 2018 Railway to Blackpool South on track to reopen The railway between Preston and Blackpool South is on track to reopen as planned on Monday (29 January) as the first phase of improvement work is completed. The route s brand new signalling system will be commissioned over the weekend with signalling staff in Network Rail s Manchester rail operating centre taking control of the route. Hitting this major milestone in the project means that trains can resume running to Blackpool South. From Monday 29 January an hourly shuttle train service will operate between Preston and Blackpool South, calling at all stations. A bus replacement service will continue to serve passengers travelling between Preston, Kirkham & Wesham, Poulton-le-Fylde, Layton and Blackpool North until Sunday 25 March.

2 Photo: New timetables are now available at all relevant stations. We are urging passengers to check before they travel at nationalrail.co.uk Kirkham & Wesham transformed Following the installation of Kirkham & Wesham s new footbridge last week, Team Orange are busy getting the station ready for passengers in time for Monday.

3 Photo: A view onto platform 1 at Kirkham & Wesham. Our engineers are working around the clock to finish surfacing the platforms, as well as getting the lighting, customer information screens & shelters in place. Photo: A new Tarmac surface is being installed across the station s platforms.

4 Photo: A busy scene at Kirkham & Wesham. When Kirkham & Wesham station reopens to the travelling public on Monday, the new footbridge will provide access to a third platform. Over the coming months, Team Orange will continue working in Kirkham to install new lifts and complete electrification work. Photo: Temporary lighting installed across the new footbridge.

5 Photo: A view from Kirkham & Wesham s new footbridge. Noisy work in the Blackpool North area We have been carrying out further piling work near Blackpool North station this week as our overhead line equipment programme accelerates in the area.

6 Photo: Engineers use a piling rig to install a steel foundation. Postcards were delivered along the route this week to inform residents about upcoming work on the project. Picture: Network Rail send regular postal communications to railway neighbours. In the Blackpool area we have highlighted the piling work to help our neighbours know what to expect. Picture: Network Rail send regular postal communications to railway neighbours.

7 We are continuing to publicise our electrification video which explains the piling process: Electrifying the Railway: Piling and Overhead Line Equipment You ve got the power Blackpool Over the weekend a new substation was delivered to Blackpool which will provide power to new overhead line equipment to enable greener, quieter and more reliable journeys. Photo: Blackpool s new substation arrives. The huge piece of kit arrived by road in three pieces which have now been assembled on the railway.

8 Photo: Wires under wires on the Preston to Blackpool route.. Meanwhile work continues to install overhead wires across the route. Keeping our neighbours informed In addition to our postal updates, regular drop-in sessions will continue until we ve completed the project. Here are the details of upcoming events: Tuesday 30 January Poulton Civic Centre, Breck Road, Poulton-le-Fylde, FY6 7PU Monday 5 February St Walburges Church Hall, Weston Street, Preston PR2 2QE Tuesday 13 February Blackpool North station, Talbot Road, Blackpool, FY1 2AB Wednesday 28 February Mill Street, Kirkham, PR4 2AN These are open to everyone! For a full list of drop-in events between Preston and Blackpool, please visit Manchester to Preston upgrade continues apace despite poor weather This week we ve successfully: installed all the overhead line structures from Lostock Junction to Horwich. This section of the route is now ready for the electric wires to be fitted. fitted four cantilevers to support railway bridges along this route.

9 carried out structural support work on two overbridges. built under track crossings at Windsor Bridge, Salford. laid 3,500m of wires to supply electricity to run electric trains in the future. Carillion update: Network Rail today announced news that, working with Price Waterhouse Cooper and the Carillion team, it had cleared the way to pay the arrears of some 300 small companies who work for Carillion representing around two-thirds of Carillion s rail supply chain. A small handful of Carillion s sub-contractors withdrew their services following last week s news. Our project team has managed this by bringing forward the work programmes of other contactors, Amey, Siemens, OCR and Buckingham Group. As a result, we ve made significant progress with track, civil, structural and signalling work. This is because they ve had much more access on the ground to get ahead of plan. Thanks to collaborative discussions, we ve now agreed a return to work for those that withdrew their services and foundation work for the steel columns will resume on Monday 29 January Stay in touch

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