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Tuesday 26 Apr 2016

Passengers are being reminded to check before they travel this May bank holiday as Oxenholme gets new railway tracks

Region & Route:

| North West & Central

Train passengers heading through Oxenholme, Cumbria, are being reminded to check before they travel over the early May bank holiday weekend as Network Rail's orange army upgrades the railway.

Engineers will continue work on a project to renew and adjust the track layout on the West Coast main line at Oxenholme and on the Windermere branch line over the May bank holiday. The railway will be closed from 0515 Saturday 30 April and the lines will reopen at 1100 on Monday 2 May.

 

To complete this essential upgrade work, further closures are required during each weekend in May. This work will pave the way for more reliable services for passengers and increased reliability in future.

Martin Frobisher, route director at Network Rail, said: “The work at Oxenholme to replace life expired track will improve the track layout in the area, make it easier to maintain and lead to more reliable service for passengers.

“I appreciate there will be some disruption as a result of this work and I’d like to thank passengers for their patience while we carry out this investment to provide a better railway.”

Alex Hynes, managing director for Northern Rail, said: “Investment in infrastructure helps contribute to a real improvement in performance and reliability for our customers on this line of route. Our advice to customers is to check before travelling and allow additional time where possible.”

Michelle Ragozzino, Virgin Trains station manager at Oxenholme, said: “Over the May Day holiday, some destinations along the West Coast main line may be served by fewer trains and some may only be reachable by rail replacement coaches. Due to this and the ongoing improvement works at Oxenholme, parking at the station will be extremely limited, so passengers should definitely check their journey before they travel and leave plenty of time to arrive at the station.

“We have worked closely with Network Rail to ensure alternative travel arrangements and parking spaces are in place to keep disruption to a minimum whilst this important work is carried out.”

Over 11,000 members of Network Rail’s orange army will be working across the country over the long weekend (30 April - 2 May) to deliver vital elements of the company’s £40bn Railway Upgrade Plan, which will provide a bigger, better, and more reliable railway for passengers and businesses across Britain.

A total of £33m will be invested over the May Day weekend, with the work planned to minimise disruption to passengers – when passenger numbers are typically fewer than half.  Compared with the recent Easter programme, there will be significantly less disruption on major routes with the overwhelming majority of journeys unaffected.

ENDS

 

Notes to editors

• The Railway Upgrade Plan is Network Rail’s £40bn spending plan for Britain’s railways for the five year period up to 31 March 2019. The plan is designed to provide more capacity, relieve crowding and respond to tremendous growth the railways have seen – a doubling of passengers in the past twenty years. The plan will deliver a bigger, better railway with more trains, longer trains, faster trains with more infrastructure, more reliable infrastructure and better facilities for passengers, especially at stations
• Although the vast majority of the network will be unaffected by planned improvement work, passengers are advised to check their journeys if travelling over the bank holiday at www.nationalrail.co.uk

Passenger information

Between Saturday 30 April – 11:00 on Monday 2 May and 0515 on Saturday 30 April to 1100 on Monday 2 May:

Bus replacements will run at various points along the line between Warrington and Glasgow:

• Crewe and Preston
• Preston and Lancaster
• Lancaster and Carlisle
• Carlisle and Glasgow Central / Edinburgh 
• Calendonian Sleeper trains will be diverted between Motherwell and London Euston and will not call at Carlisle, Preston, Crewe or Watford Junction