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Friday 13 Dec 2024

East Coast Main Line travel advice: plan for busier trains this Christmas

Region & Route:

Eastern

| Eastern: East Coast

Passengers are being advised to check before they travel over Christmas as the East Coast Main Line is expected to be busier than usual.

While there isn’t any major engineering work on the route between London King’s Cross and Scotland, there may be knock-on impacts from other main lines being closed on the national rail network.

This includes:

• A nine-day closure of the Midland Main Line impacting journeys between London St Pancras and the East Midlands
• Significant changes to services in the Crewe area between Wednesday 25 December and Thursday 2 January for signalling upgrades
• No services serving London Paddington between Friday 27 and Sunday 29 December during HS2 work at Old Oak Common

For more information you can watch a video round up of the work taking place nationwide below, or click here to read the press release rounding up all of that work.

As a result, it’s expected that the East Coast Main Line will be especially busy on Friday 27 December.

People are being advised to be prepared for busier trains and stations, to allow extra time to make their journeys, and to plan their route in advance by using www.nationalrail.co.uk.

Paul Rutter, route director for Network Rail’s East Coast route said: “Our East Coast Main Line will be open as normal over the festive period, but engineering work on other parts of the rail network may mean busier services.

“We understand this may be frustrating for passengers, so we appreciate their understanding as we work to carry out vital engineering work across the country. We are advising customers to plan ahead via National Rail enquiries or with their train operator to give themselves extra time for their journeys.”

A spokesperson for train operators said: “We will be working hard to keep people on the move over the festive period. Services are expected to be busy, and passengers are encouraged to check for the latest information before starting their journeys, leave extra time to get to the station and platform, and where possible to reserve a seat.”

Meanwhile, Network Rail and the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) have also launched new videos which will make it easier for passengers travelling this festive period to plan their journeys.  

The Visual Disruption Maps are short videos which give travellers clear information on planned changes to train services and the alternative routes which are available for them to complete their journey. 

The videos will be used in stations, on National Rail Enquiries and on the social media accounts of Network Rail, RDG and Train Operating Companies, and include subtitles as well as British Sign Language overlay to make them more accessible. 

Nationally, Network Rail engineers will be working across 400 projects as part of a £142m upgrade programme over Christmas and New Year to improve the railway and provide better, more reliable services for passengers across Britain.

For the latest East Midlands travel information, please visit here.