Ordsall Chord
| Ordsall Chord | |
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Schematic map showing the Ordsall Chord (also known as the Castlefield Curve) marked in red
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| Overview | |
| Status | Under construction |
| Locale | United Kingdom (Greater Manchester North West England) |
| Stations | 0 |
| Operation | |
| Opened | 10 December 2017 (proposed 'entry into service') |
| Owner | Network Rail |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
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The Ordsall Chord (Ordsall Lane Chord, Ordsall Curve or Castlefield Curve) is a short railway line under construction in the Ordsall area of Greater Manchester. It will link Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Victoria to increase capacity in the region and reduce journey times into and through Manchester.
A chord was proposed in the late-1970s and parliamentary powers for its construction were received in 1979, but the project was cancelled. Network Rail revived the proposal in 2010 as part of its Northern Hub proposal. Funding for its construction totalling £85 million was announced in the 2011 United Kingdom budget and construction commenced in 2016. It is scheduled to be operational by 10 December 2017.
By the late-20th century the rail network in Manchester could not support demand. The main stations at Piccadilly and Victoria were not linked and many trains terminated at Victoria taking up excessive platform space. One solution, the Picc-Vic tunnel between the stations, was proposed in the 1970s but rejected on cost grounds in 1977.
The Ordsall Chord will provide a direct link between Piccadilly and Victoria stations, allowing trains from Manchester Victoria and the east to continue to Piccadilly. Following completion of the chord, four trains per hour will travel between Manchester Airport/Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Victoria in each direction, and associated reorganisation of train paths and retimetabling will provide eight trains per hour from Manchester Victoria towards the west via Chat Moss, and six trains per hour from Manchester Piccadilly towards either Chat Moss or Bolton and Preston (trains from both Victoria and Piccadilly stations to the west and north west (Chat Moss, Liverpool, Bolton, Preston, etc.) do not actually pass over the Ordsall Chord, both ends of which lead eastwards, but travel over pre-existing track). Other trains will travel from Manchester Piccadilly via Warrington.
The chord is part of the larger Northern Hub project, proposed by Network Rail in the Manchester Hub Study of 2010. The complete scheme would cost around £530 million to implement. The Ordsall Chord will cost £85 million and will allow around 700 extra trains per day to operate into Manchester. Most through trains on TransPennine Express (TPE) routes to Leeds, Newcastle and Liverpool Lime Street will be re-routed via Victoria rather than Piccadilly but some TPE services to Leeds, Liverpool and Newcastle will continue to run via Piccadilly and will stop at Ashburys and/or Gorton and Guide Bridge. The current fast North TransPennine services will operate via Victoria reducing journey times.
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