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While families are unwrapping presents Network Rail engineers will be wrapping up warm and working through the entire festive period to bring greater reliability to passengers on the busy London Victoria to East Croydon route.

Network Rail engineers will be making more improvements to the busy railway around Lewisham this Christmas, continuing their efforts to improve reliability at one of London’s most congested spots.

Engineers are spending their Christmases carrying out vital improvements to strengthen a railway bridge just south of Finsbury Park station, which carries the busy East Coast Main Line.

• Christmas and New Year bank holiday journeys free from disruptive railway upgrades
• Advance warning of work between 4-12 January between Milton Keynes and Rugby
• Please ‘look before you book’ to know your travel options
• By law passengers must wear a face covering unless they are exempt

Platform construction is now underway for a new railway station in Winslow in Buckinghamshire as part of the East West Rail project.

Around 200 Network Rail workers are spending this Christmas upgrading the points – movable pieces of track which allow trains to move from one line to the other – at Peterborough.

• Vast majority of the rail network – over 95% – will be open for business as usual for passengers looking to travel by train over Christmas and New Year
• Most upgrade works planned for when passenger trains aren’t running – such as overnight, Christmas Day and Boxing Day – to minimise disruption. But some routes will be affected by the essential works taking place, so passengers should plan ahead
• Passengers – who must wear a face covering in busy indoor settings unless they are exempt – can continue to travel with confidence this Christmas

A more reliable railway with faster journeys and the potential for more train services is coming for passengers between Woking and Portsmouth Harbour, with the launch of the Portsmouth Direct Upgrade.