Wigan to Bolton railway line to be funded to completion

The budget announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves an announcement on fully electrifying the Bolton to Wigan line, which include stations at Lostock, Westhoughton and on to Hindley.

But reaction in the borough has been mixed, with Ms Reeves' Labour colleagues welcoming the announcement, while Conservative figures say works have already been underway for several years.

Bolton West MP Phil Brickell said: “The Bolton Wigan electrification lays the foundations for Northern Powerhouse Rail.

“While the project was started under the last government, albeit with repeated delays, it was not fully funded.

Rachel Reeves delivered her budget on Wednesday (Image: PA)

“I am delighted that the chancellor made a point of clearly stating that Bolton-Wigan electrification will be completed.

“It shows the commitment of this Labour Government to invest in infrastructure to drive economic growth and improve the lives of my constituents.

“The electrification coupled with other announcements such as the expansion of Manchester Victoria will bring clear benefits to my constituents.

“After years of Tory failure, Labour is fixing the foundations of our economy and providing the stability my constituents and local businesses want.”

The £100M upgrade to the line started in 2022 and is expected to be finished by 2025.

As well as the electrification of the route between Bolton and Wigan it will also include signalling improvements between Lostock and Wigan North Western.

Much of the upgrades have been carried out over night but at times railways have been closed while major works like bridge replacements or overhead line installations have been done.

But in Bolton, opposition politicians have questioned why Ms Reeves made the announcement on Wednesday, given that works have already been underway for around two years.

Conservative group leader Cllr Martyn Cox said: "I'm quite amused by the fact that the chancellor made the announcement on the day and then all of a sudden it's nearly finished!

"It was announced years ago! So I just can't understand why they'd announce something so obviously fake in the budget.

"If you go and look at the line, you'll see that the works are actually incredibly advanced.

"So for the chancellor to stand up in parliament and say its a new capital investment, its nonsense, it was announced years ago." 

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Delivering the budget on Wednesday this week Ms Reeves said that the upgrades would be part of a range improvements made to railways around the country.

She said this will also include delivering fully electrical services between Manchester Victoria and Stalybridge by the end of the year.

Ms Reeves said: “We will deliver East-West Rail to drive growth between Oxford, Milton Keynes and Cambridge, with the first services running between Oxford, Bletchley and Milton Keynes next year and trains between Oxford and Bedford running by 2030.”

She added: “We are delivering railway schemes which improve journeys for people across our country, including upgrades at Bradford Forster Square, improving capacity at Manchester Victoria, and electrifying the Wigan-Bolton line.”