Rail passengers are being reminded to check before they travel as work continues to repair flood damaged tracks caused by a burst water main in east Manchester.
United Utilities has now stopped the major water leak onto the railway in Audenshaw, but it has revealed damage to a railway bridge.
For three days Bessemer Street bridge between Ashburys and Gorton stations became a waterfall.
Thousands of gallons of fast flowing water have fallen from the railway above into the road below, flooding it and washing away mortar inside the structure.
It means trains travelling through the area were suspended while Network Rail engineers make urgent repairs.
Train services could not run in either direction between Manchester Piccadilly, Rose Hill and Hadfield, as well as Stalybridge and Leeds via Guide Bridge.
Lisa Milner, Network Rail’s North West route operations manager, said: “I’d like to apologise to passengers who continue to be impacted by the burst water main in Audenshaw. While it’s good news United Utilities are well underway with the repair to their broken pipe, the aftermath of more than 5 kilometres of railway being underwater for over two days was only revealed when the water subsided.
“We’re working as fast as we can to make urgent repairs to Bessemer Street railway bridge so we can get trains running as normal again. Our advice remains to check National Rail Enquiries before you travel with longer journeys expected and some rail replacements buses in operation.”
Since the early hours of 1 September, water has been flooding the railway from the burst pipe near Fairfield station, flooding a stretch of railway more than 5 kilometres long.
For the latest updates on this ongoing disruption people can follow the @NetworkRailMAN and @NationalRailEnq Twitter feeds.
Alternatively National Rail Enquiries at www.nationalrail.co.uk has more travel information.
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