Oldham railway station to be without trains for 40 days

Greenfield station in Saddleworth will see its hourly train services replaced by buses from Saturday, March 11 until Wednesday, April 5 as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade – which will eventually see electric trains running on the route.

It’s one of two rail stations remaining in the borough, alongside Mills Hill in Chadderton – with much of the borough disconnected from the National Rail network back in 2009, before being connected to the Metrolink system a few years later.

Over 26 days, the Transpennine Route Upgrade will completely remodel the tracks on the approach to Stalybridge station, installing more than two kilometres of new track and 23 new signals, upgrading 13 crossovers, and fitting overhead line equipment.

No overhead lines means electric trains can't be run currently (Image: Jack Fifield, Newsquest)

Adding to the disruption, additional work before and after will see the station without trains on these weekends: February 18, 19, 25, 26; March 4 and 5; April 15, 16, 22, 23, 29, 30; May 20 and 21.

Buses will replace services in both directions.

It will mean a trip from Greenfield to Manchester Piccadilly increases from 25 minutes by train to 43 minutes by bus.

Those travelling to Huddersfield will see the journey increase from 19 minutes to 44 minutes on the affected days.

However, rail services will run between Marsden station and Leeds via Huddersfield during the period of disruption.

Greenfield railway station (Image: Jack Fifield, Newsquest)

Mossley, Stalybridge, and Ashton-under-Lyne stations are also affected by the disruption.

Bus replacements ‘more reliable’

Mark Ashmore, chair of a campaign group for better services at the station, said: “As chair of Greenfield Rail Action Group we welcome anything that will, in the long run, increase the capacity and reliability of the train service through Greenfield.

“What is disgraceful is that for the duration of the blockade, though passengers will have a slower service at Greenfield, they will likely have a more reliable service than we have had for the past year with no last-minute cancellations.”

Electric trains by 'middle of the decade'

Hannah Lomas, industry programme director for Transpennine Route Upgrade, said: “Over the 26-days, our engineers will work around the clock to complete these key upgrades in Stalybridge, bringing us one step closer to being able to run electric trains through the area by the middle of the decade.

“To complete it safely, it does mean some passengers will be impacted between February and May. We’ve worked closely with TransPennine Express and Northern to keep passengers moving via both diversionary routes and rail replacement buses.

“We’re encouraging anyone that’s planning on travelling during the main upgrades or preparation weekends to visit National Rail or their train operator’s website to plan their journey.”

Chris Nutton, major projects director for TransPennine Express said: “These upgrade works are a vital step towards delivering faster, more reliable and sustainable services between Manchester and York. 

“Whilst the engineering work takes place around Stalybridge there will be a number of changes to TransPennine Express services across our network – and we’d advise our customers to check carefully for the latest advice before they travel on our website  www.tpexpress.co.uk/travel-updates/changes-to-train-times.

“Updates will also be available on our social media channels. Our teams from across the industry will be on hand at stations to assist customers with their journeys.”

Update 14/2: This article was updated at 08.50am with a comment from the chair of Greenfield Rail Action Group.