Network Rail has warned of major changes to train passengers’ journeys over the Easter and early May bank holiday weekends.
Passengers are being advised to plan ahead and check the best days to travel as engineers carry out essential planned work on the West Coast main line.
Euston will be closed over the Easter weekend (19-22 April) and the early May bank holiday weekend (4-6 May), with no trains in or out of the main line station on those days.
This will have a major impact on journeys including alternative routes, longer travel times and busier trains than normal.
Network Rail is carrying out work at London Euston, in the West Midlands, the North West and Cumbria as part of Britain’s Railway Upgrade Plan.
The work at Euston is in preparation for HS2, Britain’s new high-speed railway, and includes work to clear additional concourse space to help customers move more freely around the station.
Elsewhere on the West Coast main line several sections of track will be completely replaced over both bank holidays, as well as upgrades to overhead lines, signals and points.
Martin Frobisher, route managing director for Network Rail’s London North Western route, said: “We recognise there is never an ideal time to shut the railway for our must-do work. Bank holidays are the least disruptive time to do it, when fewer passengers use the railway compared to the working week. That way we can do the maximum amount of work while impacting the fewest number of people.
“Train companies and Network Rail have worked together to minimise disruption for customers. By doing a lot of work over the Easter and early May bank holidays, we can offer passengers better journeys over the late May and August bank holidays. The alternative would have been closing the line and Euston station over all of these weekends.”
Martin added: “The purpose of our essential maintenance and upgrade work is to keep the railway safe and reliable for the hundreds of thousands of passengers who use it every week. To ensure they know what to expect, I would urge passengers to plan journeys in advance and to check the best days to travel at www.nationalrail.co.uk and with their train operators.”
llow customers to make an earlier start to their Easter weekend.”
Passengers can plan their journeys and check before they travel at www.nationalrail.co.uk.
Work on the West Coast main line between London Euston, Rugby, Milton Keynes and Birmingham International also includes maintenance work to Bletchley railway flyover.
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