RAIL bosses have made a string of pledges to residents after months of disruption in Bolton.

At a meeting with residents of the Hazlemere estate, organised by MP Yasmin Qureshi on Thursday, Andrew Morgan of Network Rail apologised for the issues and promised changes to the way contractors have been working.

He was joined by project manager, Krystle Hodgson, who said the company would be putting in place 24-hour security on the site to alleviate concerns about unknown people travelling through the small estate.

She also promised the compound, situated at the rear of the estate, would have its own manager who would patrol the street and operating a red card system meant to ensure that subcontracted companies act responsibly in the area.

In addition, the company said it will look at putting on minibuses to ferry workers from an offsite location to the compound, reducing the number of vehicles parked around the estate.

Mr Morgan said: “First of all I would like to give an apology. It should never have got to this stage.

“We have had some challenging times with our contractors, but we have a new contractor on board now.”

The meeting, held at Farnworth and Kearsley Labour Club, was organised by Mrs Qureshi on behalf of residents.

The Bolton South East MP is hoping to visit the site of the problems alongside representatives from Network Rail and the estate.

She said: “As soon as residents contacted me at the weekend I got in touch with them and the rail company and organised the meeting.

“The meeting went well, residents fully explained their issues and the company said they have listened and will take it on board.”

Bev Steele, a resident who also attended the event added: “The residents appreciated the opportunity to talk directly to Network Rail and were reassured by their commitments to resolve the issues and the steps they proposed to take.

“The residents will be watching closely in the forthcoming weeks to make sure that Network Rail keep their promises.”

Network Rail laid much of the blame at the feet of Carillion, which had been the organisation’s principal contractor until going out of business in January this year.

Mr Morgan said: “We have listened to the concerns raised by our railway neighbours in Kearsley and are working closely with our contractors to help reduce the impact of our railway upgrade works on the local community.”

The infrastructure manager has since named a new contractor to complete electrification work.

Officials also said they expected work on the Kearsley site to be completed “towards the back end of this year”.

There were also discussions about the state of trees alongside the track which have been cut down by engineers.

Network Rail representatives said the vegetation had been cut down to improve performance of the railway.

Hazlemere residents are also set to meet next week with representatives from the Church Road and Moses Gate areas Farnworth where similar disruption has occurred.

The group, chaired by Cllr Mark Cunningham who lives in Church Road, will be meeting on April 26 at Trinity Church in Farnworth at 7.30pm.