Network Rail has announced a revised schedule to replace a road bridge over the railway in Greater Manchester.

The £78 million project, which involves the demolition of Ladies Lane bridge, was due to take place in early May. The work is now set to be completed between Saturday 24 June and Friday 30 June.

The project aims to allow overhead electrical wires to be installed along a six-mile stretch of railway between Wigan and Bolton to enable electric trains to serve the North West towns in the future.

Network Rail was unable to arrange the alignment of these works with other utilities companies, meaning the planned demolition of Ladies Lane bridge could not take place in May.

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The railway will be closed while the works are carried out in June. Additionally, Hindley station, which is situated near Ladies Lane bridge, will remain closed to passengers until Monday 24 July.

During this period replacement buses will be run to Wigan North Western, Westhoughton, Daisy Hill, Ince and Lostock.

Commenting on the works Claire Davis, scheme project manager at Network Rail, said: "We're sorry to passengers and residents facing additional disruption due to the challenges we've faced with our replacement of Ladies Lane bridge. We know that this major investment to electrify the railway at Hindley is disruptive and we’re working as hard as we can to get things back on schedule.

"We thank people for their continued understanding while we carry out this complex project which in future will see longer, cleaner electric trains running between Wigan and Bolton."