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Monday 28 Apr 2014

Passengers reminded to plan their journeys ahead of Watford railway upgrade

Region & Route:

Passengers are being reminded to check for changes to their journey before travelling over the bank holiday weekend as Network Rail prepares for the first closure of the railway at Watford.

As part of an £81m project to upgrade the railway around Watford, Network Rail will be closing the West Coast main line between London Euston and Watford between Saturday 3 May and Monday 5 May which means passengers will need to use alternative routes to travel in and out of London.

Dyan Crowther, route managing director for Network Rail, said: “The section of track at Watford is one of the most intensively used, high-speed sections in the UK and has seen tremendous growth in traffic and passengers over the last five years.

“There is never a good time to close the railway but this work is essential to maintain reliable train services for the millions of passengers who travel on this route every year.

“We have worked with all our industry partners to provide passengers with information in advance and will continue to during the work to minimise disruption as much as possible.”

The May Day weekend closure will be the first of eight weekend and bank holiday closures between May 2014 and April 2015 when significant upgrade work will be carried out to improve reliability and punctuality along this section of the West Coast main line.

Network Rail is working closely with the train operating companies who will provide alternative routes in and out of London for passengers.

Although alternative arrangements are in place, journey times will be considerably longer and passengers are being advised to avoid travelling to and from London on the West Coast main line during these weekends if travel is not essential.

Barrie Cottam, London Midland’s head of West Coast services, said: “My advice would be use an alternative train route where possible. Everyone who needs to make a journey along the affected route should plan ahead and check again before travelling.

“We have done all we can to minimise the inconvenience but having no through train services will mean longer journeys while the work takes place.

“London Midland will continue to update customer information and will have staff at stations along the closed route to provide assistance over the weekend.”

Phil Bearpark, operations and customer service director for Virgin Trains, said: “We are aware that many customers will be affected by the May Day bank holiday closure and we have made arrangements with a number of operators to ensure customers can continue to travel to and from London should they need to. We strongly advise customers who need to travel during the May Day bank holiday to plan their journey in advance and take into consideration that journeys will involve connections with different operators and longer travel times.”

In all cases, Virgin Trains’ customers will need to use an alternative train operator for journeys to and from London. Those that have access to other routes via Chiltern Railways, East Midlands Trains and East Coast are being encouraged to use these instead. Southern services will also be impacted.

As part of a joint passenger campaign, travellers should use National Rail Enquiries to check and plan their journey if they have to travel during this time using: www.nationalrail.co.uk/Watford.

Notes to editors

The confirmed dates for work on the West Coast main line at Watford are:

2014:

Saturday 3 May to Monday 5 May

Saturday 9 August to Monday 11 August

Saturday 16 August to Monday 18 August

Saturday 23 August to Tuesday 26 August

Wednesday 24 December to Monday 29 December

2015:

Saturday 14 February to Monday 16 February

Saturday 21 February to Monday 23 February

Friday 3 April to Tuesday 7 April

Network Rail had originally planned a 16-day closure in August 2014 and nine-day closure in February 2015. However after feedback from key stakeholders, this strategy was revised to eight weekend and bank holiday closures resulting in less disruption for passengers using the West Coast main line.

In the past 15 years the number of trains using the West Coast main line has doubled – increasing the pressure and wear and tear on the infrastructure. As Network Rail work with the train operating companies to increase capacity on the railway, investment in the Watford area is essential to accommodate the increasing demand.

During the work, all signalling between Kings Langley and Bushey will be renewed and more than 15km of new track will be laid. Modifications will be made to the overhead line equipment to make it more reliable and Orphanage Road bridge will be replaced to allow for future line speeds of 125mph.