Overview

• An urgent track inspection at Heald Green on the morning of August 13 closed lines between Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Airport.
• National Rail first predicted that services would resume by 12:00 but later updated its end-of-disruption estimate to 13:30 as inspections continued.
• The affected line reopened around 11:00, though Northern, TransPennine Express, Avanti West Coast and Transport for Wales continued to cancel trains and impose up to 30-minute delays.
• Ongoing engineering work and service diversions through Stockport amplified knock-on delays for CrossCountry and other routed services.
• Passengers heading to Manchester Airport are urged to check live schedules and allow extra time to avoid missing connections.