THIS is the first image of how Bolton’s new railway platform could look.

Network Rail is planning to rebuild and reinstate platform 5 at Bolton Railway Station as part of the rail electrification project taking place in the north of the country.

Work should begin in the new year, when new track will be installed and the dilapidated current platform area will be rebuilt.

Network Rail has now released images of its vision for how the platform will look and said it is working with local operators to form a plan for how the work will take place.

A spokesman for Network Rail said: “We are carrying out work at Bolton station to get the tracks and platforms ready for electric train services.

“This includes reinstating platform 5 which will help pave the way for better journeys and more frequent trains for passengers from December 2017.

“The work at Bolton station is planned in 2017 and we are currently developing our programme of work with Northern Rail. We will communicate further details about this in due course.”

Platform 5 was previously in use, but has not been operational since the early 1990s and a car park is currently based on the land where the track will be placed.

The platform is required to allow operators to maximise the effectiveness of new electric trains — which will run on Bolton’s network from late 2017 onwards. It means slower trains will be able to temporarily pull in to Platform 5 and allow the high-speed new electric trains to pass them and reach destinations more quickly.

As well as acting as a holding area for slower trains, the platform could also be used as a terminus where more services could start or finish. It is also hoped that a high-speed London-bound Pendolino service could start from Bolton each morning,