East Lancashire Railway (ELR) has been given a boost after a team of volunteers spruced up an area near its station in Bury.

Eight Network Rail workers gave up their own time to carry out repairs close to the line's Bolton Street railway station.       

The employees, usually based at Network Rail's Square One office in Manchester, spent a day with ELR staff replacing wooden sleepers and carrying out other track work near to Bolton Street railway station.

Bury Times: The Network Rail volunteers being given a briefing from the East Lancashire Railway maintenance teamThe Network Rail volunteers being given a briefing from the East Lancashire Railway maintenance team (Image: Network Rail)

Usually, the Network Rail team concentrate on maintaining or replacing bridges on other modern railway structures, not historic tracks.

They found in some cases the use of tools more than 100 years old were needed so the heritage railway’s historic infrastructure could be maintained in keeping with traditional methods.

The works were carried out on Wednesday, June 7.

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Bury Times: Network Rail volunteers about to start work on the railway lineNetwork Rail volunteers about to start work on the railway line (Image: Network Rail)

Bury Times: A new sleeper being installed on the lineA new sleeper being installed on the line (Image: Network Rail)

Network Rail senior structures engineer, Simon Bishop, said: "It was great to get out of the office for a day and get stuck into some hard but enjoyable work helping maintain a heritage railway.

“While the trains still run on rails, the modern railway is very different to how things used to be. It’s been really valuable to spend time with colleagues and the team at the East Lancashire Railway learning new skills and helping maintain its infrastructure so it can carry its passengers safely and reliably in future."

The work follows Network Rail and the ELR working in partnership last autumn to trial pioneering technology to treat "leaves on the line".

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Bury Times: Ballast being shovelled into place around new sleepersBallast being shovelled into place around new sleepers (Image: Network Rail)

Bury Times: An old wooden sleeper about to be replacedAn old wooden sleeper about to be replaced (Image: Network Rail)

ELR head of operations, Jeff Armstrong, added: "It was a pleasure to see how enthusiastically the Network Rail team took to the heavy manual maintenance methods. They were a pleasure to work with.

"We all work to 21st century safety standards, so we can always learn from each other.”