PASSENGERS may be fearing the worst when four months of engineering works begin on the railway near Bolton in April — and things have not got off to the best start.

While the outline of the project has been revealed, Network Rail has not yet detailed what services will run during the major works and its bosses were planning to do so last week — save for one problem.

Representatives of rail operators came to Bolton from across the north eager to see a presentation on the Farnworth Tunnel work — only for a laptop to break down and the whole thing had to be postponed.

Let us hope that the work itself goes more smoothly.

What we do know is that Network Rail is changing long sections of track in and around Bolton so that trains can run off electricity.

At Farnworth Tunnel, there are currently two tunnels — one for either direction — and the plan is to permanently close the Bolton-bound tunnel and widen the Manchester-bound one.

It means that, from April 3 to April 6, the route between Salford Crescent and Euxton Junction and between Bolton and Blackburn will be closed completely and services will be restricted until August 31.

Fourteen trains currently use that stretch of line each hour on weekdays and that will be reduced to four or five during the engineering works, though they will have extra carriages.

But a recent report on the issue illustrates just how bad things might get.

It said: "The aim is to encourage customers to avoid Bolton and travel by alternative routes."

A similar upheaval affecting the Chorley-to-Bolton line last summer was organised very well by the organisations involved, and I hope there is a repeat this year.

But the devil is in the detail and it is imperative that the powers-that-be explain the temporary transport plan as soon as possible.