The new bridge linking Manchester Victoria, Oxford Road and Piccadilly stations will open this weekend - with the first train to depart Victoria on Sunday morning.

Snow-permitting, passengers will cross the River Irwell on the Ordsall Chord, featuring a 1,600 tonne bridge that was two years in the building.

It heralds a new era of train travel at the same site which gave birth to George Stephenson’s railway vision of the 19th century.

Initially, its services will only travel between Oxford Road and Victoria as there isn’t the capacity needed at Piccadilly ahead of a timetable re-jig.

Experts have said an expansion of Piccadilly station is needed to allow the Chord to meet its potential - but this project has been thrown into doubt by ministers.

The £85m 300m track is aimed at speeding up journeys and boosting frequency from north of Manchester to the south of the city and Manchester Airport.

It will also make way for future east-west links. The first train will depart Victoria on Sunday at 8.40am, before heading to Oxford Road and back to Victoria, then making its way to Leeds. Initially, the only service running on the new line will extend Northern Rail’s existing Leeds - Manchester Victoria route to Oxford Road.

There will initially be one an hour in each direction on Sundays, with two-hourly trains running the rest of the week.

From May, the route will continue to Manchester Airport.

Northern Rail has announced plans to re-jig their schedules to allow more routes in 2018.

The Network Rail-led project, built with engineers from Parsons Brinkerhoff, Aecom and Mott MacDonald, includes 300m of track and a series of bridges and viaducts.

It was designed by Peter Jenkins, Transport Architect Director at BDP’s Manchester studio.

Mr Jenkins’ vision, which began as a series of sketches, has now jumped from the page to form a 1,600 tonne bridge.

Alongside it, George Stephenson’s bridge, built in 1830, has been restored to become a historical showcase.

Mr Jenkins, from Rochdale, said his design would place the railway ‘at the heart of a new urban community’.

He added: “Stephenson’s Bridge was neglected and disused before the Ordsall Chord. Now it can be celebrated for its character and importance.”

Martin Frobisher, route managing director of Network Rail, said: “The completion of Ordsall Chord is a seminal moment in the Great North Rail Project, which will transform train travel for millions of customers across the north. The old is giving birth to the new. We are mirroring the vision of George Stephenson for the benefit of the communities we serve for generations to come.”