Passengers have been told to brace for New Year travel chaos, after £100,000 worth of high-voltage power cables were stolen.
The theft, which took place just before Christmas, saw cables – which are an essential part of a major rail upgrade project – being taken.
The £100million project is aimed at modernising train travel in Greater Manchester by replacing diesel engines with electric trains.
It has resulted in numerous weekend closures in recent months to allow engineers to work on improving the tracks.
£100,000 worth of high-voltage power cables have been stolen
Network Rail
Engineers realised the cables were missing in Lostock, near Bolton when they arrived to carry out work in the area.
They provide power to the overhead line equipment which powers electric trains across the tracks.
On New Year’s Day, the line was due to be energised for the first time, and workers are now scrambling to restore power before Tuesday.
Passengers travelling between Chorley and Bolton today will face huge travel disruptions, as the stretch of track is out of action for most of December 29.
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Those travelling in and out of Bolton Station will face severe disruptions and cancellations
Flickr
TransPennine Express services linking Manchester with Glasgow and Edinburgh will not stop at Bolton until after 6pm, and local services will also be impacted.
Christian Irwin, Network Rail’s capital delivery director, said: “I am very sorry to passengers who will be impacted by the rail closure.
“It is extremely frustrating for this crime to take place so close to the energisation of the line.
“Our teams have been working very hard to deliver this upgrade for passengers over several years including over this Christmas period.
TransPennine Express services linking Manchester with Glasgow and Edinburgh will not stop at Bolton until after 6pm
PA
“We are working closely with the British Transport Police to provide additional security measures and to find and prosecute those accountable.”
Passengers have been advised to check the National Rail website on how best to travel to avoid disruption.
Network Rail also said that travellers should exert caution when using electrified routes, and they have a deadly 25,000 volts running through them.