Extra platform for airport link

Airport bosses hope more people will travel to the site by train

An extra platform to help ease congestion on the rail network has been officially opened at Manchester Airport.

Transport secretary Geoff Hoon opened the third platform which was built as part of a £15m revamp.

Over two million passengers use the airport's rail link and the extra platform was crucial to ensuring reliability, an airport spokesman said.

About £100m has been spent in public transport services at the airport.

'Extra capacity'

Mr Hoon said: "Manchester is a major international gateway and this improvement to transport links will strengthen the local economy and bring significant benefits to passengers.

"This new platform enables train services to run more reliably and provides extra capacity at the station, which will encourage more people to use public transport to access Manchester Airport."

Mr Hoon marked the platform's official opening by unveiling a plaque.

Andrew Cornish, managing director of Manchester Airport, added: "The siting of the station in the middle of the airport has enabled us to put rail at the core of our public transport network making us one of the few airports outside the south east with direct services to an on site station."

The project was jointly funded by Network Rail, Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive and The Northern Way, and Manchester Airport plc.