A major milestone has been reached on the electrification of a railway route between Manchester, Bolton and Preston.

It has been announced J Murphy & Sons have broken through at Farnworth tunnel using the UK's largest tunnel boring machine (TBM), Fillie.

The 293 tonne TBM emerged into daylight on 25 October and represents a significant milestone on the electrification project for Network Rail.

Farnworth tunnel features two single line tunnels built in 1838 and 1880. To deliver the project, the largest of the two tunnels had to be reconstructed and enlarged by Murphy to provide enough room for overhead cables, with both rail lines to be routed through it.

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7,500m3 of foam concrete was filled into the up-tunnel and then re-bored, while the adjacent down-tunnel was strengthened to allow live trains to continue running during the projects duration.

Murphy's Project Manager, Mick Boyle, said: "Breaking through with the TBM yesterday is a big step to ensuring that the tunnel is secured for many decades of providing a more efficient railway for Network Rail and passengers.

"This has been an exciting project to work on and demonstrates the skills of our team who have worked very hard to ensure that we have reached this milestone."

(LM/CD)