Blackpool branch lines 2 miles of the M55 also occupy the former trackbed, until the Blackpool North line travels under the motorway at the point where the lines used to merge. The electrification of the Manchester to Blackpool North route was announced in December 2009. The main work of piling etc. to accomplish this commenced in early 2017. Bridgeworks along the route to raise and rebuild those that had insufficient clearance for overhead wires was completed first. Services over both the Blackpool South and Blackpool North branches temporarily ceased on 11 November 2017 to allow the track layout at Blackpool North and Kirkham
Preston, Lancashire replace the Public Hall. The town was by-passed by Britain's very first motorway which opened in 1958 and within a decade formed part of the M6 – giving Preston a direct motorway link with Manchester and Birmingham. The late 1960s saw the completion of Ringway, a bypass around the town centre, as well as a new bus station. On 6 April 2012 the city's residents performed the "Preston Passion", a dramatised version of the Passion of Christ, which was broadcast live by BBC One. The unparished urban settlement of Preston is represented by 19 of the 22 council wards within