From: Dave Holladay
Subject: Ordsall Chord

Surely for most of the services the Ordsall Chord will simply permit Mancherster Airport and other TPE services from West of Manchester to run to Leeds, and onwards without having to cross the throat of Piccadilly. Most will still serve Piccadilly. It might also offer a greater use of the Stockport-Stalybridge connection, as an opportunity to offer the looping round of services which, a) terminate at Piccadilly and b) have to cross to the north side platforms.

I’m presuming that the planned works will just miss the Boundary Bridge – between Manchester and Salford on which Benjamin Baker (of Forth Rail Bridge fame) is commemorated as the engineer (the bridge now serves to connect the path along the Irwell and Ship Canal to Media City/Lowry/IWM from the city centre). The works will also have some impact on the rail access to Liverpool Road Station (L&M Railway).