Passengers and business owners at Salford Central have shared how the closure of the station for 10 weeks ‘will cause a lot of inconvenience.’
Salford Central Station is set to close between Monday, February 10 and Sunday, April 20 2025 to carry out renovations.
Transport for Greater Manchester and Network Rail are investing £10 million into the station to improve accessibility and provide a modernised experience for passengers.
However, despite the closure of the railway station it will hope to bring benefits and easy access to the service – but residents have shared that it will cause problems for them.
And these problems were shared by James, 32, owner of the food stall Jambake at Salford Central.
The business owner shared that the closure of the station for the next 10 weeks will impact his income, he said: “It will affect me quite a bit because I’m a new business, and have been going for about a year.
“I’ve decided to go up to Salford Crescent to be closer to the University, but obviously having to close down, relocate, and gain new customers will all have an affect.”
Nasyah, 40, is a regular user of Salford Central railway station and works next door to it and shared how she will be impacted by the closure on February 10 2025.
She said: “I commute on a regular basis from Blackburn to Salford Central and work next door to the station, which will cause a lot of inconvenience for me.”
However, one resident Darrell, 38 isn’t a regular user of the station – but said he would be likely disrupted when travelling into Manchester.
Although despite the temporary closure, he was was positive towards the updated changes, as he added: “I know they’re going to be having upgrades and work done, so hopefully that will help to improve the accessibility as well.”
And it is the accessibility that will be a main priority, as when the decision was announced the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said.
“We’re investing to upgrade Salford Central and deliver our plans for a modern, accessible, integrated public transport system across Greater Manchester.
“These improvements are a big step forward on our journey to bringing commuter rail lines into the Bee Network by 2028, helping connect more people to new opportunities and driving economic growth across the city-region.”
The renovations going ahead include new accessible toilets, improvements to platform ramps and new signage for passengers to join up with Bee Network services.
During the developments of the station, Network Rail will also be making improvements to Salford Crescent station, with a third platform being built to decrease congestion.
This will result in closures over several weekends between March and September 2025.
Chris Coleman, Industry Programme Director at Network Rail, said: “We are pleased to be working with TfGM to upgrade Salford Central station.
“We’re also investing in Salford Crescent station, building an additional platform which will improve passenger flow and relieve congestion for trains travelling through central Manchester and across the country.”
Passengers are advised to plan their journeys in advance of the closures to avoid any delays or problems they may cause.
And although trains will not be running through Salford Central station, passengers with a valid railway ticket are able to use a range of Bee Network bus services instead.
More information on the dates of closures and which buses can be used in place of the trains can be found here on the Bee Network website.
Recent Comments