Ordsall Chord

Ordsall Chord
Schematic map showing the Ordsall Chord (also known as the Castlefield Curve) marked in red
Overview
Status	Complete
Owner	Network Rail
Locale	Greater Manchester, England
Service
Type	Heavy rail
System	National Rail
History
Opened	10 December 2017
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)

v t e Ordsall Chord
Legend
To Leeds Manchester Victoria Salford Central To Bolton Salford Crescent To Liverpool Ordsall Chord To Warrington Deansgate Manchester Oxford Road Manchester Piccadilly To Stockport and Mcr Airport

Ordsall Chord, also known as the Castlefield Curve, is a short railway line in Ordsall, Salford, England, which links Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Oxford Road to Manchester Victoria, designed to increase capacity and reduce journey times into and through Manchester. It allows trains to run from Leeds, Newcastle and Redcar Central direct to Manchester Airport.

A chord was proposed in the late-1970s and parliamentary powers for its construction were received in 1979, but the project was cancelled. Network Rail revived the proposal in 2010 as part of its Northern Hub proposal. Funding for its construction totalling £85 million was announced in the 2011 United Kingdom budget and construction commenced in 2016. It became operational on 10 December 2017.^[1]

However its use since becoming operational has been limited as no additional capacity at Victoria, Oxford Road and Piccadilly has been built to cope with more through services.^[2]