Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has completed a £4 million accessibility upgrade at Daisy Hill station in Westhoughton, giving passengers step-free access between street and platform for the first time. The project, delivered in partnership with Northern and Network Rail and funded through the Department for Transport’s Access for All programme and the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement, includes a new lift, an accessible toilet, improved blue-badge parking, and a remodelled ticket-office lobby.
At an opening ceremony attended by Bolton Council Leader Nick Peel, MP for Bolton West Phil Brickell, and local accessibility campaigners, leaders said the scheme marks the starting point of a three-year TfGM programme that will deliver similar works at ten stations—double the number upgraded in the previous decade. When the current programme concludes in March 2028, 63 percent of Greater Manchester’s railway stations will be step-free, up from 43 percent today, supporting the city-region’s wider Bee Network integration plans.
Council Leader Nick Peel described accessible stations as “an essential service,” while Rail Minister Lord Peter Hendy said the £2.75 million central government contribution “will change how people get around Greater Manchester.” Northern’s regional director Craig Harrop added that the new facilities would “make it easier for disabled customers and people with limited mobility to use Daisy Hill.”
Further accessibility works are under way or planned at Irlam, Swinton, Hindley, Bryn, Reddish North, Flowery Field, Newton for Hyde, Bredbury and Levenshulme. Story Contracting, which installed Daisy Hill’s lift structure using a 350-tonne crane, will continue working with TfGM on future schemes.
With the lift in service, passengers can now make barrier-free journeys from Daisy Hill to central Manchester in around 35 minutes—enhancing travel choices for wheelchair users, people with pushchairs, cyclists and anyone carrying luggage.
