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Monday 5 Jan 2026

Footage released of first train over newly installed Hanslope junction

Region & Route:

North West & Central

| North West & Central: West Coast Mainline South

Passengers are being thanked for their patience after the biggest track upgrade on Britain’s railway network this festive period.

Over 14 days from Christmas Eve, four railway lines along a mile-long section of track between Milton Keynes and Northampton were replaced to improve future journeys for passengers and freight on the West Coast Main Line.

Network Rail and its partner Central Rail Systems Alliance spent nearly a year planning and preparing for the work at Hanslope junction* which is used by up to 500 trains per day.

Hundreds of workers replaced 130 track panels across the junction - described as Britain's biggest Christmas jigsaw – renewed the foundation stone known as ballast below the track, and overhauled points, switches and crossings.

Today (Monday 5 January) Network Rail has released trackside footage of the first trains travelling over the modernised infrastructure shortly after all lines reopened at 4am.

The £26m project was just one of a swathe of journey improving upgrades between London and Cumbria over the festive season.

During the 11 days of improvement work, teams made the most of the railway closure by completing additional projects on Network Rail’s West Coast South route, including:

• Milton Keynes Central station – Platform 4 renewal  
  A £3.66m project to replace concrete planks and fix uneven surfaces, improving safety and structural integrity.

• Wolverton station – Platforms 3 & 4 resurfacing  
  Investing over £2m to upgrade platform surfaces and improving stepping distances between train and platform.  
• Track renewal near Roade  
  An investment of almost £600,000 to upgrade the track near Roade, including the installation of over 1,500 metres of new rail.  
• Newport Bridge, Stafford  
  Part of a £5.4m upgrade to the bridge carrying the A518 over the railway, providing a safer bridge and better road for the people of Stafford. 

On the northern stretch of Britain’s busiest mixed-use passenger and freight lines, other major projects included:

• Signalling upgrades at Preston station
• Continuing work to commission a £61m digital signalling upgrade north of Carlisle, and
• The ongoing replacement of a 130-metre-long Clifton railway bridge over the M6 near Penrith.

The Clifton bridge project means the railway remains closed between Oxenholme and Carlisle until January 15.

• Read more: Timelapse released of massive demolition of railway bridge over M6 this weekend

The Christmas and New Year work has seen a combined investment of nearly £200m on the West Coast Main Line, which forms part of a much larger £400m investment over the next four years.

Christian Irwin OBE, Network Rail North West and Central region Capital Delivery director, said: “We are investing hundreds of millions of pounds to improve future journeys on the West Coast Main Line and these latest projects will make real differences to passenger and freight journeys.

"We would like to thank passengers for their patience during our work at Hanslope, Milton Keynes and Wolverton stations, and also across the wider network this festive season. With our major bridge renewal in Cumbria continuing until 15 January, we’d like to remind people to check before they travel while we make the railway fit for the future."

Jonny Wiseman, customer experience director for London Northwestern Railway, said: “We are grateful for our passengers' patience while Network Rail carried out these essential engineering works to futureproof our railway. We’re pleased the line has now reopened as planned and our normal timetable is now back in operation.”

Chris Liptrot, Operations Director at Avanti West Coast, said: “We’d like to thank customers for their patience and understanding while Network Rail carried out these major upgrades to a vital section of railway on our route. The upgrades will make journeys on the West Coast Main Line more reliable for decades to come.”

Back at Hanslope in the coming weeks, routine follow up work will take place on Sunday 11 and 25 January to secure the new railway foundation stone through a process called tamping, as well as some additional drainage work.

On those two Sundays there will be no trains between Milton Keynes and Northampton/Rugby.

And, due to the ongoing improvement work at Clifton, journeys from Euston to destinations north of Preston will be impacted until Wednesday 14 January.

For further updates on all our our West Coast Main Line improvement work you can follow us on X @NetworkRailWCML.

To plan rail journeys in advance please us www.nationalrail.co.uk for the latest travel information.