BEFORE and after drone footage has revealed the progress on repairs at Moses Gate bridge.

Footage captured by Shaun Welsby, of Nandywell Road, Little Lever, shows a partially reopened Bolton Road and the scale of remedial work to the railway embankment below.

The Moses Gate railway bridge, which carries the A6053 Bolton/Manchester Road was badly damaged on August 17 when a burst pipe caused a section of it to collapse onto the railway, creating a hole in the road.

NOW:

While the railway reopened on Wednesday, September 6, the road remains only partially reopened, and road users continue to experience diversions and disruption in the area.

Mr Welsby, 42, shot the original footage of the area in November after being delayed two hours from what should have been a routine callout with his Absolute Home Maintenance business.

The latest video shows that the large hole which emerged in the southbound carriageway has now been largely filled in.

One lane of traffic can be seen crossing the bridge northbound from the A575 Egerton Street, while one lane of traffic can be seen crossing the bridge southbound via contraflow on the A6053 Bolton Road.

Hall Lane can be seen closed on the right of the photo, containing maintenance equipment and vehicles.

THEN:

Soon to be a sight of the past is the Pacer train that rumbles past during the latest drone footage.

The much-maligned diesel units are due to be removed from service in 2020.

Upgrade works to electrify the railway line between Manchester and Preston via Bolton had been due to finish by the end of 2017, before the completion date was put back to May 2018.

However, further delays to the project mean that the engineering work cannot be completed until later this summer — meaning passengers will have to wait until the next timetable change in December until they finally see electric trains coming through Bolton.