Most of West Coast main line open for passengers during August bank holiday upgrades

Monday 12 Aug 2024

Most of West Coast main line open for passengers during August bank holiday upgrades

Region & Route:: North West & Central; | North West & Central: West Coast Mainline South; | North West & Central: Central; | North West & Central: North West

The majority of the railway between London Euston and the North West of England will be open for business this August bank holiday weekend – but planned upgrade work means passengers should plan their journeys in advance.

Between Saturday 24 and Monday 26 August Network Rail engineers will be completing major track upgrades in Stoke-on-Trent and Crewe. Work to prepare for HS2 – Britain’s new high speed railway – will also be taking place in the Duddeston area of Birmingham and near London Euston station.

Over the long weekend, work includes:

Upgrades to the drainage, track and signalling in the Crewe area.
Improvement work in Stoke-on-Trent to reduce delays and improve performance for passengers and freight services on the West Coast main line.
Track upgrades between Birmingham New Street and Coleshill Parkway stations as part of long-term improvements and to prepare for HS2 – Britain’s new high speed railway.
HS2 engineers will also be continuing work between London Euston and Milton Keynes to lengthen a road bridge.

The carefully planned upgrades mean that most of the network will be open for people to travel to see friends, family and attend events across the country, , including this year's Manchester Pride festival which takes place over the bank holiday weekend.

James Dean, Network Rail’s passenger director, said: “We’ve planned our engineering work to keep disruption to a minimum so people can rely on the railway to get them to where they need to be across the bank holiday. Most services will be running as usual but I do advise for those planning to travel to check their journeys in advance.”.

Passengers are advised to plan their journeys in advance at www.nationalrail.co.uk.

For more information on how Network Rail maintains the track visit: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/looking-after-the-railway/track

Notes to Editors

There will be changes to services for some journeys, including fewer trains on certain routes. Passengers should check their individual journeys in advance and before they travel at www.nationalrail.co.uk

Contact information

Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41

Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries

Journalists
Network Rail press office - North West & Central Region
0330 854 0100
NWCmediarelations@networkrail.co.uk

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We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.

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