Network Rail has closed the Dean Farm foot crossing and replaced it with a footbridge in Salfords.  

The opening of the £1.5 million footbridge means that Dean Farm crossing over the Brighton mainline is now closed.  The crossing was the country’s busiest in terms of the number of trains going over it; more than 760 trains a day pass through the area at speeds of up to 90 miles an hour.  The new footbridge was built over Christmas and craned into place on Boxing Day.  It links Copsleigh Avenue with a network of paths the other side of the line. A group of parents and children from Salfords School were the first to use the new bridge yesterday.  

Nationally, Network Rail has closed more than a thousand level crossings, many of which are in the South East.