Major upgrade of rail signals completed

As part of a £45m project, during the August bank holiday weekend signals over a key section of the West Coast main line through Cheshire between Prestbury, Macclesfield and Congleton were upgraded.

The project started in July 2021, and the latest stage saw control of 56 signals was transferred to a state-of-the-art Rail Operating Centre in Manchester, with power sources and electrical cabling upgraded, and two catenaries carrying 25,000-volt overhead lines were repositioned to provide better vision of the new signals for train drivers.

The final switchover came when operation of Macclesfield Signal Box signalled its last train train on the evening of Friday, 26th August.