Go ahead has been granted for a new railway flyover in Staffordshire to relieve a bottleneck for trains on the West Coast Mainline.

The new structure close to the village of Norton Bridge near Stafford will carry services between Birmingham and Manchester over lines heading towards Liverpool and Glasgow, eliminating the need for an existing junction. Work will include construction of nearly 10km of new line, 10 bridges and four river diversions.

Construction of the flyover forms part of a £250M infrastructure improvement to be delivered by the Staffordshire Alliance which brings together Atkins, Laing O'Rourke, Network Rail and VolkerRail. Work is to begin this spring and be completed by summer 2016.

Staffordshire Alliance head Ian Jones said: “The West Coast Mainline is set to reach capacity in just five years time and the flyover at Norton Bridge is one of the last improvements which can be made on the route.

“It will remove a major pinch point and allow faster, more frequent and reliable passenger and freight services,” he added.

A public information event about the project will be held on Thursday 24 April from 4pm at Chebsey Village Hall near Stafford.

The flyover project forms the last of a three phase upgrade to railway infrastructure in the area. Phase one to improve line speeds between Crewe and Norton Bridge has just completed. Phase two involves signal upgrades near Stafford.

(Photo: Network Rail)

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