The Manchester–Preston line runs from the city of Manchester to Preston, Lancashire, England. It is largely used by commuters entering Manchester from surrounding suburbs and cities, but is also one of the main railway lines in the North West and is utilised by TransPennine Express regional services and to Scotland. It was announced in December 2009 that the line would be electrified, following an announcement in July 2009 that the Chat Moss line between Manchester and Liverpool was to be electrified first. The electrification work for this line commenced in May 2015 and was due for completion in May 2018,[1][2][3][4] but was delayed until December 2018.[5]
Electric service commenced on 11 February 2019.
The line is one of the busiest in the North West, with eight trains per hour in each direction during the off-peak daytime timetable. The line speed is currently 100 mph.
There is a large variety of rolling stock on this line, current rolling stock include Classes 150, 156, 158 and 195 DMUs, 331 and 397 EMUs and 769 and 802 BMUs. Former rolling stock on this line include Classes 142, 153, 175, 180 and 185 DMUs and 319 and 350 EMUs.
Manchester Victoria was the original starting point before the Windsor Link was created. It goes through Salford Central, after which it then joins the line from the Windsor Link and enters Salford Crescent.
The route then continues to Clifton, and then passes through Kearsley, Farnworth and Moses Gate following the Irwell Valley for much of the route. The first major town is Bolton. Just after Bolton station there is a junction to the right where the Ribble Valley line, a single track line, heads off to Blackburn and Clitheroe. The line cuts through the western suburbs of Bolton including Lostock, where trains to Wigan Wallgate via Westhoughton, branch off. Next is Horwich Parkway opened in 1999 and Blackrod (where the former Horwich Branch diverged). It then proceeds through the town of Adlington and on to Chorley, passing through Buckshaw Parkway, which opened in 2011 and finally joins the West Coast Main Line at Euxton Junction before continuing via Leyland to Preston.
The line is an important diversionary route at weekends, used in conjunction with the Crewe–Manchester line to divert away from a large section of the West Coast Main Line if required. The convenience is that this only adds 35–40 minutes to a journey and negates the need for costly bus replacement services. Some freight still uses this line (such as stone trains from the Peak District to a distribution terminal at Hope St., Salford and "Bin-liner" refuse trains from Pendleton to Scunthorpe), especially during the peak periods during the day. It is, however, a primary passenger route in the North West of England.
Work on 25 kV OHL electrification of the line began in May 2015 and has included numerous bridgeworks plus the major undertaking of the re-boring of Farnworth Tunnel.[1] Its high profile resulted in a visit from Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, shortly after work started,[7] and from Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin in August 2015 during the reboring work.[8] Breakthrough was achieved in late, rather than early October, due to loose sand delaying the work in August; the first trains running through the new twin track bore on Monday 14 December 2015. Electrification of the line was due for completion by December 2016, then delayed until December 2017 and then further delayed until May 2018. In January 2018 yet another delay was announced.[9] This was attributed to difficult ground conditions including hard rock and running sand resulting from old mine workings.[10][4] Test trains (Virgin Pendolino) finally ran between Preston and Manchester in December 2018.[5] The first scheduled passenger-carrying electric services began on 11 February 2019, running to Blackpool North, Buckshaw Parkway, Manchester Victoria and Manchester Airport using Class 319 EMUs.[11]
^"Network Rail plans Bolton station expansion". Railway Gazette. 27 December 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2017. Electrification of the railway through Bolton is due to be completed by December 2017...
