Media centre

Tuesday 30 Apr 2019

Passengers reminded to check before they travel over both May bank holidays

Region & Route:

National

• Railway open for ‘business as usual’ over both May bank holiday weekends (4 – 6 and 25 – 27 May) as majority of the network is unaffected
• A 22,000 strong workforce will work around the clock over both May bank holiday weekends

• London Euston station and sections of the West Coast Main Line between London and Glasgow will be closed on 4-6 May

Ahead of the Early May bank holiday weekend, Network Rail is reminding passengers to check before they travel as it carries out a programme of engineering work to deliver more reliable infrastructure, improved facilities and better services for passengers.

Most of the country’s services are unaffected, but some routes will still see significant changes to normal services, so passengers need to plan ahead this May. The route between London Euston to Glasgow – the West Coast Main Line – sees closures of the line at London Euston, near Crewe and Glasgow. There will be no trains running to or from London Euston station and the station will be closed from Saturday 4 to Monday 6 May.

The railway is up to 50% quieter than usual over bank holidays so doing work at this time of year minimises our impact on passengers who, as research shows, understand the need for such activity.

Andrew Haines, chief executive of Network Rail said: “Passengers want and deserve a more reliable railway, and over the May bank holidays, thousands of railway workers will be out on the track and working behind the scenes to deliver just that. While most of the railway network will be open as usual, some routes will be closed, so if you are thinking about travelling please plan ahead.”

A breakdown of how some journeys will be affected can be found by visiting nationalrail.co.uk/May and following #MayBHworks on Twitter.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

Impacts on services as a result of the May bank holiday engineering work:

Early May bank holiday – Saturday 4 until Monday 6 May (inclusive):

• Significant work along the route from London Euston to Glasgow – the West Coast Main Line – sees closures of the line at London Euston, near Crewe and Glasgow. There will be no trains running to or from London Euston station and the station will be closed from Saturday 4 to Monday 6 May. This will have a major impact on journeys including alternative routes, longer travel times and busier trains than normal
• Work to replace the track between Farringdon and West Hampstead means Thameslink services will be diverted to start/terminate at St Pancras, London Bridge or Blackfriars stations from Saturday 4 to Monday 6 May
• There will be changes to services from London Waterloo to Barnes and Clapham Junction from Sunday 5 to Monday 6 May while maintenance and refurbishment work is carried out

• Renewing the track between Swindon and Bristol Parkway from Saturday 4 to Monday 6 May will see buses replace trains between Bristol Parkway to Severn Tunnel junction/Newport and services from London to South Wales diverted via Gloucester
• Upgrading the overhead wiring system on the Southend Victoria branch line. This will see buses replace train services between Shenfield and Southend Victoria/ Southminster from Saturday 4 to Monday 6 May.

Late May bank holiday – Saturday 25 to Monday 27 May (inclusive):

• Significant work along the route from London Euston to Glasgow – the West Coast Main Line – sees changes to services across the route throughout the bank holiday weekend
• Work to replace the track between Farringdon and West Hampstead means Thameslink services will be diverted to start/terminate at St Pancras, London Bridge or Blackfriars stations from Saturday 25 to Monday 27 May

• Upgrading the overhead wiring system between Wickford to Southend Victoria and Southminster. This will see buses replace train services between Shenfield and Southend Victoria/ Southminster from Saturday 25 May to Sunday 2 June
• On the Great Eastern Main Line, work to renew overhead line equipment, switches and crossing – movable sections of rail that guide trains from one track to another- and track maintenance will see buses replace trains between Ipswich and Norwich/Bury St Edmonds from Saturday 25 to Monday 27 May