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Friday 25 Jul 2025

Britain’s rail network will be open for business over the August bank holiday but passengers asked to check before travelling

Region & Route:

National

The vast majority of the rail network will be open for business over the August bank holiday, so passengers can make the most of the long summer weekend to visit friends and family and travel to the hundreds of events taking place across Britain.

Network Rail has carefully planned its engineering works to ensure that most rail services run as normal. Where work is taking place, thousands of railway workers will be delivering essential upgrades on 261 projects across Britain – an investment of £79.3m that will improve train performance and support a more reliable railway for passengers and freight customers.

Passengers are therefore asked to please check their routes before travelling, as some journeys may be affected.

Notable locations affected by this programme of work include:

London King's Cross and Peterborough: As part of works for the East Coast Digital Programme, and maintenance works between Peterborough and Potters Bar, there will be no long-distance services between London King's Cross and Peterborough on Sunday 24 August. Buses will be in place between Peterborough and Bedford for onward travel.

London Victoria and Dartford: Due to re-signalling work in the Lewisham area, there will be no Southeastern services from London Victoria to Dartford on Sunday, 24 and Monday, 25 August. Rail replacement buses will be in place between New Cross and Dartford via Bexleyheath, and ticket acceptance will be in place between Bank and Lewisham.

Birmingham International and Birmingham New Street: From Saturday, 23 to Monday, 25 August, due to track renewals at Garrison Street and Tyseley, rail replacement buses will be in place between Birmingham International and Birmingham New Street. Avanti and CrossCountry services will be diverted with extended journey times, and London Northwestern services will terminate at Birmingham International.

Helen Hamlin, Network Rail's chief network operator, said: "With the August bank holiday weekend approaching, we've carefully planned our engineering work to minimise disruption, allowing people to rely on the railway and make the most of the late summer bank holiday weekend.

"While the vast majority of the railway will be running, works on some parts of the network are unfortunately unavoidable, as we complete major work to support a better, more reliable railway that we wouldn't be able to complete in a normal weekend. So, we're asking passengers to check their journeys in advance to ensure their route isn't affected.”

Passengers travelling over the bank holiday weekend can check their journeys in advance at www.nationalrail.co.uk or with their train operator.