‘Stockport Railway Station closure leaves me feeling vulnerable’ | Manchester News

A grandmother has said the halting of railway services through a major station for three weeks will leave her feeling “vulnerable” on her disrupted journey home at night.

No trains will be running though Stockport station from 2 to 23 August while the bridge which goes over the railway line is demolished and then replaced, National Rail said.

First constructed in 1958, the Greek Street road and roundabout crosses over the West Coast Mainline which links trains from Stockport to Manchester and is Europe’s busiest mix-use railway.

Trains will either be diverted or passengers will have to use replacement buses for the 21-day period.

Christine Costello, who will be travelling to Stockport twice a week from Crewe to look after her grandchildren in the school holidays, said she had been told she would have to take a train from Crewe to Wilmslow and then a bus between Wilmslow and Stockport.

She said: “It’s going to be a real nuisance because it’ll take so much longer.

“I think the coming up won’t be so bad, it’s the going back at night that I don’t like, you feel quite vulnerable.

“It’s a real problem for me, I’m not a young person.”

Network Rail has apologised for the disruption but said it was a “key piece of infrastructure” that needed replacing for the safety of both road users and the railway.

The company said it was working with the council, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and Avanti West Coast to make sure people were aware of how the work would impact them.

More than 500 trains usually pass through Stockport each day, according to Avanti West Coast.

Another commuter who regularly travels to London from Stockport said he was having to do “a lot of forward planning” to avoid the journey.

“If needs be, I’ll have to try somewhere and try to get my way there because I can’t even get a train from Stockport to wherever I can get the London train from,” he said.

Stockport Railway Station manager for Avanti West Coast Lisa Magee said the station and ticket office would remain open during the works, allowing people to walk through via the subway.

“Our advice to customers travelling is to check before they travel, allow a little bit more time for the journey and there’s going to be plenty of staff available to help them with onward connections,” she said.