PASSENGERS experienced the new ‘really helpful’ link between Bolton’s main bus and rail stations for the first time yesterday.

As a full train service returned to the borough for the first time in weeks, commuters were truly able to put the stunning ‘skylink’ bridge connecting the town centre railway station and newly-opened interchange to the test.

The £48 million bus hub opened on Sunday, amid severe rail disruption caused by a burst water main and collapsed bridge at Moses Gate.

But there was relief yesterday, as the full service between Bolton and Manchester resumed — four weeks earlier than had been expected.

John Wadsworth, aged 83, was travelling from Stockport to Blackburn yesterday via Bolton and got to use the ‘skylink’ for the first time.

He said: “Having the new bridge will certainly save me a good few minutes on my journey.

“I have been watching the interchange go up gradually and it is a great pleasure to be able to travel through it now.”

Laura White, who was travelling between Bolton and Salford Central, said: “Having the link between the two is really helpful because it keeps you dry and it makes travelling a lot simpler.

“I think it will be good for people who don’t know the area, because they always used to be asking where the bus station was. It has cost a lot of money, though, and you wonder whether some of that could have been spent elsewhere because there are a lot of areas that need regenerating.”

There was another important milestone at the railway station yesterday, as trains pulled into the restored platform five for the first time.

The station had a fifth platform until the early 1990s, before the track was concreted over, and it has now been brought back into use as part of major upgrades involving the electrification of the Manchester to Preston line.

Once the £200 million project is completed later this year, electric trains will pass through the town for the first time and services to Scotland will return.

Although trains between Bolton and Manchester are running again, Moses Gate station is expected to remain closed for the rest of this week.