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Friday 21 Apr 2023

Passengers in London urged to check before travelling as upgrade work takes place over early May bank holiday

Region & Route:

National

• Network Rail is providing travel information for passengers across London over the forthcoming early May bank holiday weekend as upgrade work takes place on routes to, from and within the capital
• Euston will be most affected, with a reduced service operating on Saturday 29 and no trains to/from Milton Keynes on Sunday 30 April

Network Rail will be carrying out improvement work over the early May bank holiday weekend on routes in and around the capital as part of a £73m nationwide programme of work to improve reliability and performance for passengers across Britain.

Jake Kelly, Network Rail’s System Operator group director, said:

“The majority of the rail network will be open as usual for passengers travelling to, from and within London over the bank holiday weekend, but we do have some vital upgrade work taking place to improve journeys in some areas, so please check before you travel, either with your train operator or using National Rail Enquiries.

“There’s never a good time to impact rail services, but with fewer passengers typically travelling over the bank holidays, we have the opportunity to complete vital work to provide better and more reliable journeys whilst minimising disruption for our passengers and freight users.” 

Glynn Barton, TfL’s Chief Operating Officer, said:

“The majority of TfL services will be operating throughout the forthcoming bank holiday weekend. Customers wanting to travel to Watford can still use the Metropolitan line which will continue to operate throughout the bank holiday weekend. We recommend customers who plan to use our Tube and rail services check before they travel by using the TfL website or the TfL Go app.”

Key work includes: 

Passengers travelling on the West Coast main line to and from Euston will benefit from smoother and more reliable journeys in the future as track renewal work takes place at Harrow & Wealdstone and Tring.

On Saturday 29 April, there will be no London North Western Railway services between Euston and Tring as a result of this work, and trains that usually run to Crewe will start/terminate at Milton Keynes Central. Trains that usually run to Birmingham New Street will start/terminate at Northampton. A reduced Avanti West Coast service will also operate to and from Euston. No London Overground services will operate between Willesden Junction and Watford Junction, with a half hourly reduced service between Euston and Willesden Junction.

On Sunday 30 April, no trains will operate between Euston and Milton Keynes Central. Bus replacement services will be in place between Stanmore (London Underground Station), Watford Junction and Milton Keynes Central, and between Leighton Buzzard and Cheddington and Bedford and Milton Keynes Central.  No London Overground services will operate between Euston and Watford Junction.

Elsewhere in the capital, c2c services to and from Liverpool Street will be diverted to Fenchurch Street on Sunday 30 April as tunnel work, station roof improvements and other maintenance takes place at the station.

There will also be no London Overground services between Woodgrange Park and Barking Riverside on Sunday 30^th April and  Monday 1^st May as various work including a bridge replacement and maintenance work on track, signals and overhead lines takes place at Harringay Junction. Passengers should use local buses, Underground services or rail replacement buses.

ENDS