Network Rail shares footage as Greek Street Bridge demolition begins

Network Rail has shared behind-the-scenes footage of the first phase of work carried out by its engineers over the Easter weekend to prepare for the demolition and replacement of the Greek Street bridge over the railway in Stockport town centre.

Last month, the roundabout and parts of nearby roads were closed to all traffic for one year, and this Easter saw an accompanying full railway closure so demolition of the old structure could begin. Network Rail and its contractor Murphy worked throughout the four-day bank holiday on tasks which set the huge £20 million project up for success when the old bridge is fully removed and new one craned into place this August.

The work saw:

• Overhead lines which power trains being assessed and mapped so detailed plans can be drawn up when they need to come down in Summer
• The bridge parapets and ‘wing walls’ at street level demolished
• Removal of concrete block work under the bridge
• Test drilling to prepare the method which will be used for the bridge removal.

Patrick Vallely, Network Rail Capital Delivery head of buildings and civils, said:

“This is a hugely complicated project for both road and rail – with one of Stockport’s key traffic roundabouts sitting above one of the busiest railway junctions in Greater Manchester. Our teams worked night and day over Easter and made great progress for future phases of the bridge rebuild, while making sure the railway reopened on time for passengers.

“We couldn’t have done this work without closing the road and railway, and I’d like to thank anyone whose travel plans were impacted by our major work over Easter for their patience. This is all part of our multi-million-pound ‘Strengthening Stockport’ investment to improve this critical infrastructure for decades to come.”

With road diversions in place throughout 2025, Network Rail has a dedicated web page with the latest information for both residents, road users and rail passengers about the project.

It is also running a ‘Strengthening Stockport’ campaign to raise awareness of the next line closure from Saturday 2nd to Saturday 23rd August 2025.