A high court judge has ruled in favour of the building of the so called Ordsall Chord link.

The route linking Piccadilly and Victoria Train stations is seen as an intricate part of the Northern Rail Hub but has been held up after objections that it would destroy or severely damage thirteen listed structures and buildings.

The objections were led by Mark Whitby, the engineer whose alternative scheme was rejected by Network Rail, and resigned his consultancy in protest at the scale of heritage damage, and was backed up by English Heritage.

The new route would effectively cut off the site of the first passenger rail station now within the Manchester Museum of Dcience and Industry, from the rest of the rail network.

In her ruling published today, Mrs Justice Lang found that she could find no flaw in the government inspectors conclusions which decided that the benefits of the scheme outweighed any loss of heritage and she also refused permission for Whitby to appeal.

The scheme, which was originally expected to be completed in 2017,  will see two new fast trains per hour between Manchester Victoria and Liverpool  and six between Leeds and Manchester as well as enabling  a new direct service through Manchester city centre to Manchester Airport.

A Network Rail spokesman said: “We welcome this decision as the Ordsall Chord forms a key part of our Railway Upgrade Plan for the north of England. More than £1bn is being invested to provide passengers with better services and we plan to start work on the Ordsall Chord as soon as possible.” 

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here