OREANDA-NEWS. Greater Manchester’s elected leaders have repeated their support for vital improvements to the railway as work on the city’s Ordsall Chord progresses.

Whilst taking the ongoing legal challenges into consideration preparatory work started in October 2015 on the Ordsall Chord. The new section of railway linking Manchester’s Piccadilly and Victoria stations will help provide an increase in train services in an out of the city, and better connections to towns and cities across the north.

Work started last week to build the foundations for the new chord. In the months ahead work will take place to remove existing structures, whilst preserving their heritage, before the main viaduct is built.

Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council and GMCA lead for Rail North, said: "I agree with the Secretary of State's original judgement - a decision made following extensive consultation by Network Rail - that this is the right option for the city, the region, and the country, and I want to see this vitally important new line opening as soon as possible. Manchester was the city where the rail revolution began in the 19th century, and the Ordsall Chord will enable us to create a railway fit for our 21st century population."

Salford City Mayor Ian Stewart said:  “Orsdall Chord is a vital piece of infrastructure that is desperately needed in the northern powerhouse. We need faster, more frequent services to transport  people in and out of Greater Manchester – a region which is thriving. It will help to boost the local economy and create even more jobs and investment.”

Ordsall Chord is part of a +?1bn programme of rail improvements in the north, which will help boost the economy by providing faster more frequent services, and increasing investment and job opportunities.

Nick Spall, route delivery director for Network Rail, said: “The benefits of the Ordsall Chord are recognised across the north of England and this significant investment has the support of civic leaders representing more than one million people across the Greater Manchester area.

“We want to deliver this vital and long overdue improvement to the railway to benefit the millions of taxpaying passengers who want, and deserve it.”

“If our programme of work is further delayed as a result ongoing legal challenges, we, and in turn taxpayers, will face additional costs totalling millions of pounds.

“This is the location of the world’s first inter-city railway, opened in 1830 by George Stephenson. Stephenson was an innovator who brought progress. If he was alive today we firmly believe he would build the Ordsall Chord. The old railway is giving birth to the new.”

About Network Rail

Network Rail owns, manages and develops Britain’s railway – the 20,000 miles of track, 40,000 bridges and viaducts, and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations (the largest of which we also run). In partnership with train operators we help people take more than 1.6bn journeys by rail every year - double the number of 1996 - and move hundreds of millions of tonnes of freight, saving almost 8m lorry journeys. We’re investing ?38bn in the railway by 2019 to deliver more frequent, more reliable, safer services and brighter and better stations.