Finally ... some light at the end of tunnel

ESSENTIAL METROLINK REPAIRS COMPLETE AFTER FOUR YEARS

- By NEAL KEELING

Aerial view of the work carried out last week to finish repairs and, below, what the green used to look like

FOUR years after work began, an essential repair to a Metrolink tunnel has been completed.

The work has left a town centre green dug up and a web of pipework and metal ever since.

The plot of land off Bury New Road in Whitefield will now be restored. Before the work it was a wedge of lawn with daffodils to instil a bit of civic pride.

Despite the repairs being done transport bosses say the reinstatement of the green will be achieved 'in the coming months'.

The land was dug up in March 2021 and it has been fenced off ever since. The Manchester Evening News revealed in September why a main contractor relinquishing the work and bats.

The land is over a tunnel through which the Manchester Victoria to Bury Metrolink line runs. The Whitefield station is 50 yards away.

A routine inspection of the tunnel in 2021 found a fracture in an iron support beam. Workmen dug a huge hole to get access to the damage and the plot was sealed off with fencing.

But the site was later completely surrounded by boarding and protected by 24-hour security.

Metrolink services were disrupted in August 2021 by the work. It then came to a halt after temporary measures were taken to make the tunnel, which dates from 1876, safe.