Railway lines across the north west have been reopened following extensive upgrades over the Easter Weekend.

Network Rail engineers completed £118m of work around the country between Friday, 30, March, and Monday, 2, April.

This included renewals and maintenance to track, electrification in key areas, and new signalling upgrades.

Martin Frobisher, Network Rail’s route managing director for London North Western, thanked passengers for their understanding while some services were disrupted.

He said: “This work was part of our ongoing railway upgrade plan, which will provide customers with a better railway.

“There is never a good time to carry out work that affects services but we worked closely with the train operators for it to cause the least amount of disruption.”

The improvements included projects in the Cheetham Hill area of Greater Manchester, as well as Merseyside and Carnforth, near Lancaster.