Stockport rail passengers reminded of October weekend rail closure

Network Rail is advising passengers of an upcoming rail closure as work continues on the £20 million replacement of the Greek Street Bridge in Stockport.

Network Rail will be closing the railway on Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 October 2025 to allow the project team to continue their work below the bridge over the West Coast Main Line.

Construction teams will be removing the now redundant wall in the centre of the tracks and starting work to reinstate the road and walls on the roundabout which sits on top of the bridge.

William Brandon, Network Rail’s project manager, said:

“I am immensely proud of the team, who worked so hard to deliver this once-in-a-lifetime project over the summer. I am very grateful to the local community and passengers for their ongoing patience and understanding during the work.

“Though the reconstruction of the bridge is complete, there is still more work to do. To safely install parts of the new roundabout, we need to close the railway again for two days. After that, we will begin to work with utility companies to redivert their services though the bridge, before relaying the road ready for people to use again.”

Lisa Magee, Avanti West Coast station manager at Stockport, said:

“We’d like to thank our customers for their continued patience and understanding while Network Rail carried out these once-in-a-generation works at Stockport last month which will provide safe and reliable journeys for decades. To enable the next phase of the Greek Street bridge project to be completed, the West Coast Main Line through Stockport will be closed again for two days, so those making journeys on 4 or 5 October are strongly advised to plan ahead, check the National Rail website before travelling, and leave plenty of time.”   

Network Rail and its contractor partner Murphy replaced the Greek Street bridge during a 21-day closure of the railway through Stockport in August.

It saw 200 old concrete beams on the former 67-year-old structure removed using two giant crawler cranes with a combined capacity of 1,300 tonnes. Then, the new bridge parts were inched into position across a 60m gap above the tracks, and a concrete deck was poured on top.

Replacing the huge structure is vital to keep road users and trains moving safely, with the modern structure’s lifespan at an estimated 120 years.

Stephen Harnett, Murphy’s project manager, said:

“The project is progressing well thanks to the concerted team effort from all parties – thank you to the local community for their patience whilst we continue the upgrade works.”

Cllr Grace Baynham, cabinet member for Parks, Highways and Transport Services at Stockport Council, said:

“I want to thank our residents and local businesses for their patience over the three weeks while the bridge was installed.

“It’s great to see the project running on time thanks to the hard work of the team from Network Rail and Murphy.

“Edgeley is very much open for business throughout these works, and we’ll keep working closely together as the final stages continue above ground and the roundabout is reinstated by March next year.”

Following the weekend work in October, the railway through Stockport will remain open until Christmas Day and Boxing Day, where engineers will make the most of the closed railway to carry out more work to the bridge.

Once utility services are diverted back from their temporary scaffold bridge into the new structure, the road can be relayed, and the roundabout will reopen in Spring.

Passengers travelling between Stoke-on-Trent and Manchester during the closure are advised to plan their journey online as there will be rail replacement buses in operation on routes through Stockport.