Train services between Preston and Blackpool North will resume on Monday 16 April, Network Rail said today.



Snow, wind and ice from the ‘Beast from the East’ combining
with Storm Emma off the Atlantic is one of the main factors that has caused
the long-awaited resumption of train services to be pushed back three
weeks. An essential engineering train required for delivering the
upgrade also needed unplanned maintenance.




The additional time will be used by Network Rail’s Team Orange
engineers to put the finishing touches on this comprehensive upgrade
of the line between Preston and Blackpool. There will be further work
on the railway after 16 April, but this is not expected to disrupt train services.

To keep customers moving, Northern will continue to operate a regular
bus replacement service between Preston and Blackpool North
until Monday 16 April when trains will resume once again.




Andrew Morgan, senior sponsor for Network Rail, said: “While we’ve made
fantastic progress in upgrading the line over the last six months, the recent
bad weather and unexpected maintenance of critical machinery has
hampered us slotting in final pieces of this important jigsaw, at one
of the busiest times of the closure.



We continue to thank Northern and their customers for bearing with us. We are working around
the clock to get train services back moving again from 16 April.

“The additional line closure will help us claw back time. The completion
of the remaining work will allow passengers to benefit from
better, greener and more efficient services in future.”




Sharon Keith, Northern regional director, said: “It’s disappointing to experience
delays to the engineering work at Blackpool, but we continue to work in partnership with
our colleagues in Network Rail to deliver the upgrades our customers want and deserve.

“We look forward to being able to run train services again between Preston
and Blackpool North, strengthening the connections between the city
and the country’s most popular seaside destination.”




Sharon added: “The engineering work is just the start of the modernisation
of the railway for Blackpool. With the ability to run electric trains, the town
will be one of the first to benefit from our brand new fleet of Class 331s currently
being built, which are due for introduction from December this year.
And customers will also see improvements to their stations as part of a multi-million
pound scheme to modernise facilities and introduce new ticket machines.”

The extensive upgrade of the Preston to Blackpool North line forms
part of the rail industry’s Great North Rail Project, a team effort to upgrade trains
and tracks to transform travel for customers across the North.



This line upgrade has involved rebuilding 11 bridges, remodelling 11 station platforms, replacing
11km of track, upgrading railway drainage and installing 84 new modern signals.

It has seen major improvements delivered at Blackpool North station,
Kirkham & Wesham station, as well as at Blackpool depot to support the roll
out of modern trains across the region from later this year. While the railway is
running, lifts will be completed at Kirkham & Wesham station in the
next few weeks, making it fully accessible.


A brand new signalling system, controlled from Network Rail’s operating
centre in Manchester, will help to reduce delays and improve railway performance.

Passengers are urged to check before they travel at www.nationalrail.co.uk