Network Rail thanks motorists as M62 reopens after weekend closure

Monday 9 Sep 2024

Network Rail thanks motorists as M62 reopens after weekend closure

Region & Route:North West & Central: North West [1]| North West & Central [2]

Drivers are being thanked for their patience and understanding this morning after the motorway was closed over the weekend for a railway bridge demolition. Network Rail is investing more than GBP22m to rebuild a 42-metre-long, 2000 tonne railway bridge that takes trains over the M62 in Castleton, near Rochdale. For the first time in recent memory, the M62 is being closed over two weekends.

This weekend, the road was closed on the eastbound carriageway between J18 and J20 and the westbound carriageway between J19 and J20.

120 people worked around the clock to demolish the existing Castleton bridge, which takes trains between Manchester Victoria and Rochdale. Once the motorway was closed, the team installed a deck to protect the road from damage, positioned the demolition equipment, and then methodically dismantled the old bridge beam by beam. To do this, workers used 11 excavators to pull the bridge apart with their 14 tonne hydraulic hammers and jaws.

Drone photographs show the demolition excavators carefully removing the bridge on the deserted motorway. The road reopened this morning (9 September) at 4:55. William Brandon, Network Rail project manager said: “I’d like to thank passengers and drivers for their patience as we rebuild Castleton bridge.

“It is essential that we replace this ageing bridge for the safety of rail and road users, but I am sorry for the significant disruption the work will cause.” Until Friday 20 September, there will be nightly closures of the M62 between J19 and J20 from 9pm to 6am to allow engineers to continue work to the abutments (bridge supports). Drivers are being reminded that from 9pm Friday 20 – 6am Monday 23 September, the M62 will be closed for another weekend between J18 and J20 and the westbound carriageway between J19 and J20.

The railway between Manchester Victoria and Rochdale will remain closed until early morning of Wednesday 25 September. Rail replacement buses are in operation. Passengers are advised to check their travel in advance as journey times will be significantly longer than usual.

About Network Rail

We own, operate and develop Britain’s railway infrastructure; that’s 20,000 miles of track [3], 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts [4] and the thousands of signals [5], level crossings and stations.

We run 20 of the UK’s largest stations [6] while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country’s train operating companies [7]. Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain’s railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day.

Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway [8], so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan [9], to grow and expand the nation’s railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced – a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.

References

^ North West & Central: North West (www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk)
^ North West & Central (www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk)
^ track (www.networkrail.co.uk)
^ bridges, tunnels and viaducts (www.networkrail.co.uk)
^ signals (www.networkrail.co.uk)
^ stations (www.networkrail.co.uk)
^ train operating companies (www.networkrail.co.uk)
^ a safe and reliable railway (www.networkrail.co.uk)
^ multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan (www.networkrail.co.uk)
^ @networkrail (twitter.com)
^ http://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/ (www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk)