TRAINS may not begin running through Moses Gate railway station from Bank Holiday Monday due to safety concerns, rail bosses have admitted.

The collapse of the embankment following a water burst near the station last week and the closure of the bridge, which takes traffic on Bolton Road across the tracks, sparked fears rail services could be affected.

But Network Rail chiefs insisted services would not be affected, although they could not give a timescale for the reopening of Bolton Road.

However they have now conceded that, while the burst and subsequent flooding did not put back ongoing electrification work, it may not be safe to run trains through Moses Gate from Monday as planned.

A spokesperson said: “We are carrying out emergency repairs to Moses Gate bridge, built in the 1960s, which has been damaged by a burst water main.

“For safety reasons we have had to close the bridge to road-users. Our emergency repairs are expected to result in disruption to train and road-users.

“There are currently no trains running on this line as we have been upgrading Bolton station.

“Those upgrades, which are entirely separate to the bridge issue, are progressing well.”

Network Rail has not ruled out trains running on the line from Monday, but much will depend on the findings of engineers’ assessments.

A spokesperson added: “Currently our engineers are working around the clock to get the bridge fixed. This is a complex engineering challenge. We are first assessing the extent of the damage. We will then work out precisely what needs doing to fix it and how long it will take. When have a clear plan with clear time frames we will let everyone know.”

Cllr Asif Ibrahim, ward councillor for Farnworth, said he was ‘disappointed’ that Network Rail was not able to be more clear about its plans.

He said: “I don’t think that’s ideal, it affects individuals’ lives and livelihoods. It’s coming to the point where the summer holidays will be over soon and people will be using those routes to get to school and back and to get to work and back. Presumably they have structural engineers on site who can appraise the situation relatively quickly.

“They are not new on the line, they have been working rail electrification, it’s not like they’re coming into the site blind. I’m extremely disappointed they have been extremely vague in their response.”