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Thursday 10 Aug 2023

Majority of West Coast main line open during £15m bank holiday upgrades

Region & Route:

North West & Central

• Most rail routes will be open for August bank holiday travel
• £15m is being invested to make the railway better for passengers and freight between Euston and Manchester
• Some overnight and daytime work could impact West Coast main line journeys
• People are advised to check National Rail Enquiries before travelling

Most rail routes across Network Rail’s North West and Central region will be open for passengers to travel around the country this August bank holiday weekend (26-28 August).

The North West and Central region is the economic spine connecting the country’s main cities - London, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool, with vital links to Scotland.

Bank holidays remain crucial for Network Rail to carry out major upgrades to improve future journeys for passengers and freight.

Between 26 - 28 August £15m will be invested to upgrade some sections of the West Coast main line between Stafford and Manchester, and Milton Keynes and London.

Separately, work to build HS2, Britain’s new high speed railway which when built will transform journeys between London, the Midlands and the North, will see changes to journeys between Birmingham and Derby.

While the essential railway improvements have been planned to mainly take place overnight to cause the least disruption to rail travellers, there could be changes to some journeys in the daytime.

The work includes:

• Trackside drainage upgrades in Cheadle Hulme in Cheshire, and new track installation in Macclesfield*
• New railway lines being installed in Altrincham**
• HS2 construction work between Birmingham and Derby***
• New West Coast main line track being installed at Wolverton near Milton Keynes, and work above some of London Euston station’s platforms****

Passengers are advised to check www.nationalrail.co.uk to see if any of the essential improvements could impact on their journey.

Progress made earlier this year means a smaller programme of improvements will take place in the North West and Central region over the August bank holiday.

Nationally thousands of railway workers will be delivering essential upgrades for passengers and freight customers over the long weekend as Network Rail invests £71m on around 500 projects across Britain.

Dave Penney, interim managing director of Network Rail’s North West and Central region, said: “We’ve made great progress improving the region’s railway on previous bank holidays in 2023, which means that during this coming bank holiday break any work we are doing is impacting fewer passengers.

“We are still investing £15m in the region’s railway though, which could see some journeys impacted over the last bank holiday weekend this summer. That’s why we're advising people to check National Rail Enquiries in advance of 26-28 August so they know exactly what to expect from their journey.”

Passengers on affected routes should allow extra time for travel as they may need to change trains or use rail replacement buses.

People can also find out how their journeys will be affected with their train operator, or can follow how the work progresses on our X (formerly known as Twitter) accounts @NetworkRailMAN @NetworkRailBHM or @NetworkRailEUS.