Work has started on a £4.3m project to transform Swinton Station and make it more easily accessible.
The improvements include a new platform lift, accessible toilet, baby changing facilities, better lighting and more extensive CCTV to make the station safer. The station will remain open with services running as normal for the duration of the works, though the ticket office will be closed until November 2026.
Mayor welcomes step-free access
The changes are expected to be complete by spring 2027.
Bev Craig, Mayor of Greater Manchester, said: “Greater Manchester’s old Victorian railway stations may be full of character, but the reality is they often act as a barrier to people catching the train.
“It’s not right that people need to travel miles to a different station or find another way to get around, just because they can’t get up the station stairs. So, we’re doing something about it.”
Part of £100m investment programme
The £4.3m scheme by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is part of a £100m investment programme to improve stations across Greater Manchester. Funded by the Department for Transport’s Access for All programme and the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement, the scheme has already been rolled out in Daisy Hill and Irlam.
Salford City Mayor, Paul Dennett, added: “It’s fantastic news that the investment is confirmed and these vital works are finally starting. It will make such a difference for our local residents.”
Residents welcome the changes
Councillors Jim Cammell, Jim Dawson and Su Matthews welcomed the changes, with coun Cammell stating the stairs had been a barrier to transport usage for some locals ‘for years’.
Some local residents also celebrated the news, with local mum Angela Dyson noting she’d been ‘up and down those stairs with a pram in one hand and a child in the other for 19 years’.
The scheme is being delivered by TfGM, Network Rail, and Northern. It comes as Walkden Station continues to face delays for its accessibility revamp. ‘Complex engineering problems’ have prolonged the planning process to almost a decade, leaving local residents and campaign groups frustrated.
A Network Rail sponsor apologised for the delays, stating that while ‘progress has not always been visible, we’ve been carrying out extensive investigations and technical assessments’. The complications are as a result of the station sitting directly above a presumed coal-mining seam of which there are no exact plans.
