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Monday 10 Apr 2017

Passengers reminded to plan in advance this Easter ahead of £70m upgrade to Britain’s rail network

Region & Route:

National

• More than 95 percent of the network will be running as normal this Easter
• There will be changes to some services over the Easter weekend while Network Rail delivers part of its Railway Upgrade Plan
• This work will provide faster and more frequent services to help relieve over-crowding on Britain's railways

With the Easter bank holiday fast-approaching, Network Rail is reminding passengers to plan their journeys in advance of another busy bank holiday weekend. Network Rail will be delivering more than 200 projects over Easter as part of a £70m investment across Britain.

More than 13,000 rail workers will be out in force over the four day period working on some of the country’s largest infrastructure projects to deliver crucial benefits for passengers. While some services will be affected, passengers can be reassured that more than 95 percent of the railway remains open for business as usual.

Phil Hufton, managing director England & Wales at Network Rail, said:

“This Easter, thousands of rail workers will be working round the clock to deliver crucial upgrades to the rail network. This huge investment programme will provide faster, better services in the long-run and help relieve over-crowding to respond to the huge growth on Britain’s railways.

“We know that many people want to use the railway during the Easter holidays and the good news is that more than 95 percent of the network is unaffected by this work. But some services will be impacted so we strongly advise passengers to plan their journeys in advance.”

Rebecca Grogan, a mobile operations manager from Wembley, will be working over the Easter bank holiday weekend. She is stationed at London Euston and her role means she acts as a first response to any incident on her patch.

Rebecca said: “I’m excited as it’ll be the first bank holiday I’ve worked. As a mobile operations manager, you really are in the heart of the operational railway and you get to interact with so many different people. My role over Easter will be making sure staff and passengers are kept safe by carrying out patrols and checks in stations and on site, and responding to call-outs.

“I do sympathise with people who need to travel to be able to see friends and family over the bank holiday, but most of the network is unaffected and the overall number of travellers is significantly less than normal.”

Impacts on services as a result of the Easter Bank Holiday work:

In and around London:

• London Cannon Street: There will be no Southeastern services arriving or departing on 14 and 15 April.  On 16 and 17 April trains will start and terminate at New Cross
• London Charing Cross: There will be no Southeastern services arriving or department on 14 and 15 April. A normal service will be in place on 16 April, and on 17 April there will be reduced services to London Bridge
• London Liverpool Street: Crossrail East work and overhead line renewal continues between Shenfield and London Liverpool Street which means that there will be no train service from 14-17 April between London Liverpool Street and Ingatestone/Billericay. Replacement bus services will be in place.
• London Paddington: Reduced services to Heathrow Airport on 15 April. From 14-17 April, Bath Spa long-distance services between Bristol Temple Meads and London Paddington will be diverted, and will not stop at Bath Spa or Chippenham
• London Victoria: No Southern or Gatwick Express services on Sunday 16 April. The airport will still be served by services from London Blackfriars
• London Waterloo: Reduced and diverted services between 14-16 April.

Outside of London:

• Bristol Temple Meads: Buses will be in place between Bristol Temple Meads and Chippenham / Frome / Westbury / Castle Cary from 14-17 April
• Scotland: On 15 and 16 April, CrossCountry and Virgin Trains East Coast services will not run between Edinburgh and Glasgow Central, and Scotrail trains will be diverted between Motherwell and Glasgow Central.  Bus services will be in place.

The programme of work this Easter is just part of Network Rail’s five-year Railway Upgrade Plan – a multi-billion pound investment in the rail network which will improve passenger journeys of the future. Network Rail will be helping to deliver significant progress on major infrastructure projects this Easter including:

• Crossrail: Significant works on routes out of London Liverpool Street in preparation for the start of Elizabeth line services in 2018, which will increase London’s rail transport capacity by 10 percent and cut journey times.
• Thameslink Programme: Major improvement work taking place between London Charing Cross, London Cannon Street and London Bridge. Completion of the project in 2018 will allow for new, spacious trains every two-three minutes through central London at peak times.
• Waterloo Station: Major track renewal as part of the Waterloo Station upgrade which will increase capacity, improve station facilities and lengthen platforms.
• Northern Hub: Continued work on the Ordsall Chord project to improve connections in Manchester, and remodelling work at Salford Central station including the structures replacement of Chapel Street bridge.
• West of England: Network Rail is modernising Bath Spa station in preparation for new, longer trains which will enter service in the near future. 

Further upgrade works are planned for the remaining bank holidays throughout 2017. Currently, large-scale work across London’s rail network is planned throughout the month of August this year, with some work starting as early as 5^th August and lasting until 28^th August. Passengers are being advised to plan their journeys as early as possible by visiting www.nationalrail.co.uk (tickets available three months in advance) and by taking note of in-station advertising.

ENDS