Longport footbridge upgrade set to resume with completion now due February 2027

Network Rail and Story Contracting are to resume work on the £1.4m footbridge upgrade at Longport station in Stoke-on-Trent, with completion now expected by the end of February 2027, some 17 months after the scheme was first due to finish.

The remaining work on the pedestrian link over the West Coast Main Line is due to start on Saturday 31 October 2026, Network Rail said in a release issued on 30 October. The final phase involves installing newly manufactured steelwork for the sides of the bridge, balustrades and safety barriers, after bridge panels had to be remade.

Network Rail said the upgrades are designed to improve the safety and resilience of the footbridge. The scheme sits in its North West & Central region on the West Coast Mainline South route.

Andy Johnson, project manager at Network Rail, said: "We're pleased to be back on site to complete the remaining upgrades to Longport station's footbridge and would like to thank residents and rail users for their patience while we worked with Story Contracting to remanufacture a key component of the structure."

The closures

According to Network Rail's schedule, the footbridge will be closed overnight from 11pm on Saturdays until 9am on Sundays between 31 October 2026 and 28 February 2027. It will also be fully closed from Monday 30 November to Friday 18 December 2026 inclusive, with pedestrian access restricted again during further planned work in February.

Johnson's statement gave a different account of the longer closure, saying the footbridge "will be closed for three weeks in February". Network Rail's release does not reconcile the two.

Johnson said an alternative route would be in place for pedestrians and advised rail passengers to allow extra time for journeys to the station. Rail services at Longport will not be affected by the bridge closures, Network Rail said.

How the scheme has slipped

Network Rail first announced the £1.4m upgrade in July 2025 as a summer scheme, with work scheduled from 26 July to 14 September 2025. A reminder issued on 25 July 2025 gave the bridge closure dates as 4 August to 10 October 2025.

The original scope covered replacing damaged parapets and stair units, relocating cable trays away from overhead lines, repainting the steel structure to prevent further corrosion and upgrading the lighting on the bridge. Network Rail said at the time the structure, which crosses two electrified tracks at Station Street, had suffered significant wear and tear over time.

During a 21-day closure of the route through Stoke-on-Trent in August 2025, Network Rail invested £12.5m in renewing tracks, points, bridges and viaducts. Its release on that blockade listed ongoing improvements to staircases, concrete work and repainting at Longport footbridge, and named Story Contracting as the contractor.

In December 2025 Network Rail said the work had been due to finish that autumn but had been delayed by manufacturing issues with some of the new steelwork, and that the project would not be fully complete until at least spring 2026.

Patrick Vallely, Network Rail head of buildings and civils, said at the time: "Regrettably, we've taken the tough decision to have some of the bridge panels remade because they did not meet what was required." He said it was Network Rail's duty to carry out stringent tests on building work on the railway.

Jim Lewis, head of operations at Story Contracting, said in December 2025 that the company was working with Network Rail and its supply chain to find a solution as quickly as possible, and apologised for the inconvenience and the ongoing delays. Story Contracting describes itself as a privately-owned infrastructure company providing rail, plant and construction solutions.

Network Rail said in December 2025 that additional lighting was being installed along the diversionary walking route between the platforms, which it said in February 2026 had needed to stay in place for several months. East Midlands Railway had said the diversion added up to nine minutes to changing between platforms 1 and 2 during the 2025 closure.

Interim reopening

The footbridge reopened to passengers and local people on 13 February 2026 while the upgrade continued. Network Rail said then that the remaining work included newly manufactured steelwork for the bridge sides, balustrades and parapets, and that the bridge would stay open for the rest of the works unless further safety or construction requirements arose.

Network Rail said the new closures are to allow the work to be carried out safely. The first full closure of the bridge runs from 30 November to 18 December 2026, with all work expected to be complete by the end of February 2027.