Increasing the number of trains on the corridor linking Bolton and Manchester would cause performance to suffer, the Department for Transport (DfT) has confirmed.

The Bolton News asked the DfT for information about congestion on the busy Castlefield Corridor – which links Deansgate, Manchester Oxford Road, and Manchester Piccadilly, after Bolton West MP Chris Green called for a direct Bolton to London rail link last week.

While the MP told The Bolton News that direct services to the capital could help the town "prosper", a railway engineer said local services would need to be sacrificed due to a lack of capacity.

Now, the DfT has confirmed that running any more services on the corridor – currently limited to 12 trains per hour, going up to 13 per hour at peak times – would "adversely affect performance" on the network.

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A DfT spokesperson said: “We recognise the vital importance of the Castlefield Corridor which is why, working with local leaders, operators and industry partners, we made the decision to run 12 trains per hour, to reduce congestion on the line and improve punctuality, resulting in a 30 percent improvement in reliability of some services.

“This is on top of the £72m we announced just last year to improve train services in Manchester and the wider region, including building a new third platform at Salford Crescent to reduce overall congestion and delays.”

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The department said that the 2022 timetable was set up by the "Manchester Task Force" – a collaboration between the DfT, local authorities, sub-national transport body Transport for the North, Network Rail, and operators.

The timetable was developed to remove badly performing services and to make others more reliable, the DfT clarified.

A report published in February by Transport for the North said "urgent action must be taken to address performance" on the corridor, which "will limit the ability to accommodate more direct through services".

Plans drawn up to help relieve the bottleneck, termed "Northern Hub", were only partially completed.

A new connection between Piccadilly and Victoria, called the Ordsall Chord, was built – but decade-old plans to build two new platforms at Manchester Piccadilly were withdrawn last year – to the chagrin of many campaigners.

However, plans are now underway to add a third platform at Salford Crescent – at an estimated cost of £72m.

If you have a story, I cover the whole borough of Bolton. Please get in touch at jack.fifield@newsquest.co.uk.