Media centre

Tuesday 2 May 2023

May bank holiday upgrades complete between London and Scotland

Region & Route:

North West & Central

Network Rail has completed a range of essential upgrades to the railway between London Euston, the Midlands, North West and Scotland over the early May bank holiday.

Between Saturday 29 April and Tuesday 2 May, teams carried out vital work on the railway to improve passenger and freight services on the West Coast main line – the Backbone of Britain.

Today (Tuesday 2 May) trains resumed again after some sections of track closed so engineers could quickly and safely carry out the major improvements over the bank holiday weekend.

Drone footage has been released showing some of the work in Crewe, where teams of engineers replaced signalling structures on Sunday 30 April.

The £14.5m investment across the whole of Network Rail's North West and Central region saw:

• Work to 25,000-volt overhead lines which power trains at Euston and Kings Langley to make them more resilient during hot weather
• Track upgrades in Harrow and Wealdstone, Tring, Cumbria and Lancashire
• Overhead line upgrades as part of a year-long power supply project at Bushey 
• Work starting to remove of the old arrival and departure boards at Euston station
• Upgrades to track foundation stone at Willesden North, Watford South Junction and Wigan
• Platform extensions at Leyland station
• Signalling work at Basford Hall in Crewe
• Follow up work at Stalybridge as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade
• Ongoing construction of a new Merseyrail station at Headbolt Lane in Kirkby

Dave Penney, Network Rail’s North West & Central region passenger director, said: “Hundreds of frontline staff worked throughout the bank holiday to improve journeys for passengers and freight in the North West and Central region and I’m immensely proud of them and our contractors who helped Network Rail deliver this vital programme of upgrades. 

“This weekend will be another bank holiday for the King's coronation, and the railway will be open as normal. We're still advising people to check before they travel as trains, particularly in and out of London Euston, and also Liverpool for the start of the Eurovision song contest, are expected to be busier than usual."

Anyone travelling between Friday 5 and Monday 8 May are encouraged to plan their journeys in advance by visiting www.nationalrail.co.uk.

This Sunday (7 May) is the opening ceremony of the Eurovision song contest in Liverpool - with 25,000 people headed to an event outside St George's Hall in the city.

People planning to get there by train should do so carefully, especially knowing how they are getting home in the evening after the large event has finished.

For more information and Eurovision 2023 travel advice please visit: www.networkrail.co.uk/eurovision