One of the last remaining bottlenecks on the West Coast Mainline has been removed in Staffordshire with the opening of a flyover and new track on Monday.

 

The new infrastructure at Norton Bridge near Stafford allows trains heading to and from Manchester to travel over, rather than across, existing tracks. This will provide added capacity, allowing for more frequent services through the area.

 

The £250M scheme follows the installation of new signalling between Stafford and Crewe to allow trains to travel at faster speeds.

 

Works around the Norton Bridge flyover saw the installation of 11 separate structures and 10km of new railway. Four rivers were diverted to accommodate the project and 1Mt of earth was moved on site. 

 

Network Rail chairman Sir Peter Hendy said: “The opening of the new flyover and railway in the Norton Bridge area marks the culmination of four years’ work.

 

“We have removed one of the last major bottlenecks on the route which will improve the reliability of the railway and speed of trains though the area. It will also help run more freight and passenger services through the area and on the entire West Coast Mainline in future.”

 

Virgin Trains, which runs inter city services through the area, described the project as “a significant piece of enhancement work” and train operator London Midland said the new track layout is “a major game changer”.

 

(Photo: Network Rail)