Passengers advised to ‘travel either side’ of Easter bank holiday: Avanti West Coast train passing through cutting near Penkridge

Monday 14 Mar 2022

Passengers advised to ‘travel either side’ of Easter bank holiday

Region & Route:
North West & Central
  • West Coast main line passengers urged to travel either side of the Easter bank holiday (Thursday 14 April and Tuesday 19 April)
  • £22m railway improvements will mean better future journeys for passengers and freight
  • Between Good Friday and Easter Monday no trains will run to or from London Euston - services will start and finish at Milton Keynes
  • Journeys will take longer and will involve replacement buses

Passengers travelling between London Euston and Scotland over the Easter bank holiday are being urged to travel either side of the long weekend.

This Easter Network Rail is investing £22m to improve future journeys for passengers and freight on the West Coast main line and key routes in the Midlands and North West.

Between Good Friday (15 April) and Easter Monday (18 April), Euston station will be closed to main line train services due to major track upgrades in Watford, including work to build Britain’s new zero-carbon railway HS2.

Instead trains will start and finish at Milton Keynes.

Network Rail is advising that the best time to travel will be on Thursday 14 and Tuesday 19 April.

Passengers needing to travel on the days in between could have longer journeys, fewer available seats, and may need to use rail replacement buses.

To plan journeys and for the latest travel information visit: www.networkrail.co.uk/wcml.

Other essential work which will require the railway to be closed at points over the bank holiday include:

  • 1km of track drainage being replaced at Beechwood Tunnel
  • Bridge renewal works at Coventry South Junction and HS2 enabling works at Hampton-in-Arden*
  • Rugby Road railway bridge in Leamington Spa being replaced as part of a £2.4m investment
  • Signalling and track improvements on lines around Crewe station
  • Railway foundation stone upgrades on the West Coast main line at Carnforth
  • Track replacement on the West Coast main line in Carstairs in Scotland
  • Changes to trains between Liverpool and Manchester due to track maintenance around Liverpool South Parkway**

The vital railway improvements coincide with the FA Cup semi final at Wembley stadium on Easter Sunday.

With Everton, Liverpool and Manchester City playing their quarter final matches this coming weekend, football fans are being given advanced warning that journeys will take longer by train from the North West should their team make it to the semi-finals at Wembley.

Dave Penney, Network Rail passenger director for the North West and Central region, said: “There is never an ideal time to shut the railway and we have to carefully balance the best time to do this essential work with the needs of our passengers. Long bank holiday weekends continue to give our engineers the time they need to close the railway for complex jobs like track replacements and bridge overhauls while disrupting the fewest number of people.

“I’d urge people to travel before and after these big jobs need to close sections of railway, so they have the smoothest journey possible. Please plan ahead and check National Rail Enquiries so you know exactly what to expect – especially if one of the three North West football teams make it to the FA Cup semi-final on Easter Sunday.”

Passengers should plan ahead at www.networkrail.co.uk/wcml, check with their train operators or visit www.nationalrail.co.uk for the latest journey information, or by following #EasterRailWorks on Twitter.

Notes to Editors

*Services between Coventry and Birmingham will be diverted via Solihull, while there will be bus replacement services between Rugby and Birmingham International, and between Leamington Spa and Nuneaton/Coventry.

**On Easter Sunday, there are no direct trains on the West Coast main line to Liverpool Lime Street, Wigan or Warrington.

Contact information

Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41

Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries

Journalists
Network Rail press office - North West & Central Region
07740 782954
NWCmediarelations@networkrail.co.uk

About Network Rail

We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.

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