Improved connections pulling in to Manchester from this weekend

From 10 December timetable changes will see services increase from every hour to every 30 minutes on weekdays between Manchester Victoria and Blackburn.

And services between Manchester and Wigan will run every 30 minutes on Sundays – also up from once an hour.

Liam Sumpter, Regional Director at Northern, said: “We are just a couple of days away from timetable changes that will offer new travel possibilities for customers in Manchester.

The changes are part of a wide-ranging modernisation programme that will also see us add more than 2,000 extra services each week by 2020.

The service enhancements will go hand-in-hand with further modernisation across the Northern network, including new and fully refurbished trains, better stations and more ways to buy tickets. Northern’s oldest trains (Pacers) will also be removed from the network – with the entire programme delivered by 2020.

Sir David Crausby, MP for Bolton North East, said: “It’s not often we see positive trains news, but I’m very pleased that these extra services are being put on for my constituents. I’m sure local residents around Bromley Cross and Hall i’ th’ Wood will take advantage of the new services, and hopefully it will allow some people to switch from the car to the railway. There’s still a lot more needs to be done to improve the service in peak times, but this is a very welcome development.”

Liam added: “In the coming months and years our customers will see further improvements as we work to modernise our stations and facilities.

“We will also continue to improve our current fleet of trains and, from next year, will begin the introduction of 286 new, purpose built carriages. These trains will provide more space and enable us to add more than 2,000 services every week, building on the 2,500 we already operate each day.

“This is just the beginning of modernisation for our customers and there are many more exciting improvements to come on our journey to 2020.”