Media centre

Friday 25 Aug 2006

KEEPING BRITAIN ON THE MOVE ON BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY

Region & Route:

National

Since the airport security alert earlier this month, the numbers of people choosing to travel by train has soared. This bank holiday weekend is likely to see that trend continue. The good news for passengers is that on peak getaway days of Friday and Monday, the railway is open for business as usual. Network Rail is carrying out its usual amount of investment, maintenance and renewal work on Saturday and Sunday this weekend, so there will be some engineering work on these two days (mainly on the East Coast Main Line and the South West Main Line between Waterloo and Guildford).  On Monday, it is business as usual with no engineering works planned – however a large nine-day investment project on the Great Western Main Line begins on Saturday.  The details are below. East Coast Main Line Engineering work will take between York, Darlington and Newcastle from 2.30pm hours on Saturday 26 August until 12 noon on Sunday 27 August 2006.  The parts of the route that will be affected are: London Kings Cross - Peterborough - York - Darlington - Newcastle - Edinburgh - Glasgow Central: and Glasgow Central - Newcastle - Darlington - Birmingham New Street -Plymouth – Penzance.  The services of the following train operators will be affected: GNER, Transpennine Express and Virgin Trains.  GNER and Virgin Train services will be replaced by road transport between Darlington and Newcastle in both directions. Transpennine services will be replaced by road transport between York and Newcastle in both directions. Major engineering work will take place between London Kings Cross and Finsbury Park from Sunday 27 August 2006 until 7am on Monday 28 August 2006.  The parts of the route that will be affected are: London Kings Cross–Stevenage–Doncaster–Newcastle–Edinburgh/Glasgow Central; London Kings Cross–Welwyn Garden City/Hertford North–Stevenage–Cambridge/Kings Lynn; and London Kings Cross-Doncaster-Hull.  The services of the following train operators will be affected: First Capital Connect, GNER and Hull Trains.  GNER services will start/terminate at Peterborough, a rail shuttle service will operate between Peterborough and Finsbury Park. Customers can travel between Finsbury Park and Kings Cross via the Piccadilly line on the London Underground. Hull Train services will start/terminate at Finsbury Park. Engineering work will take place between Doncaster and Leeds on Sunday 27 August 2006.  The parts of the route that will be affected are: London Kings Cross - Peterborough - Grantham - Doncaster – Leeds.  GNER services will be affected.  GNER trains will between replaced by road transport between Leeds, Wakefield Westgate and Doncaster. Great Western Main Line Engineering work will take place between Swindon and Chippenham from Saturday 26 August 2006 to Sunday 3 September 2006.  The parts of the route that will be affected are:  London Paddington - Reading - Didcot Parkway - Swindon - Chippenham - Bristol TM - Weston-super-Mare / Bristol Parkway - Cardiff - Swansea / Cheltenham; Swindon - Westbury - Salisbury – Southampton.  First Great Western services will be affected. Train services between London Paddington and Bristol Temple Meads will run at hourly intervals, will be diverted between Reading and Bath Spa and will not call at Didcot Parkway, Swindon and Chippenham.  Customers to / from Chippenham are advised that a coach service will be in operation between Chippenham and Swindon to connect with trains towards London or South Wales. A shuttle train service will operate between Bristol Temple Meads, Bath Spa and Chippenham in both directions. A limited peak-time direct train service will operate between Chippenham and London Paddington via an alternative route. Train services between London Paddington and South Wales will be hourly and will be diverted between Swindon and Newport, not calling at Bristol Parkway. Some will call additionally at Didcot Parkway, Kemble, Stroud, Stonehouse and Gloucester.  Customers to / from Bristol Parkway are to use a replacement coach service between Swindon and Bristol Parkway which will connect with trains towards London or South Wales. A limited peak-time direct train service will operate between Bristol Parkway and London Paddington via an alternative route. Services between London Paddington and Cheltenham Spa are reduced and will not call at Gloucester. Customers for Gloucester are to use diverted South Wales services. South West Main Line Engineering work will take place between Effingham Junction and Surbiton from Saturday 26 August 2006 to Sunday 27 August 2006.  The parts of the route that will be affected are: London Waterloo - Clapham Junction - Wimbledon - Surbition - Cobham & Stoke d' Abernon – Guildford.  South West Trains services will be affected.South West Train services between London Waterloo to Guildford (via Cobham & Stoke d’Abernon) will not operate. Replacement road transport will operate between Surbiton and Effingham Junction in both directions.  South West Train services between London Waterloo to Guildford (via Cobham & Stoke d’Abernon) will not operate. Replacement road transport will operate between Surbiton and Effingham Junction in both directions.  For further details passengers can contact National Rail Enquiries on 08457 48 49 50 or via the website www.nationalrail.co.uk.  Information is also available on the websites of the relevant train operating companies:

• GNER – www.gner.co.uk   
• Transpennine Express - www.tpexpress.co.uk  
• Virgin Trains - www.virgintrains.co.uk  
• First Great Western - www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk
• South West Trains - www.southwesttrains.co.uk