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Friday 21 Apr 2023

Rail passengers urged to check before travelling as upgrade work takes place over early May bank holiday

Region & Route:

National

• Majority of rail network will remain open over the bank holiday, though some journeys will be affected as Network Rail undertakes £73m investment in Britain’s railway

• Services to and from London Euston will be affected, with a reduced service operating on Saturday 29 and no trains to/from Milton Keynes on Sunday 30 April

Network Rail will be undertaking more than 600 projects across Britain over the forthcoming early May bank holiday weekend to improve reliability and performance for passengers.

Jake Kelly, Network Rail’s system operator director, said:

“The majority of the rail network will be open as usual for passengers travelling 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.” 

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 London 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.

• 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.

• Work to improve resilience and performance at Basingstoke will affect South Western Railway and CrossCountry services in the south. On Saturday 29th April, buses will replace trains between Basingstoke, Andover and Winchester, whilst on Sunday 30th, buses will be in place between Woking and Andover, Winchester and Basingstoke, as well as Reading and Andover. CrossCountry services will not call at Basingstoke, Winchester and Southampton Airport Parkway and journey times will be extended by one hour. Buses will also be in operation between Reading, Basingstoke and Winchester.
• Significant work at Carstairs Junction in Scotland will impact services throughout the bank holiday weekend. Scotrail services between Glasgow and Edinburgh via Carstairs will not run, and Glasgow to Lanark services will terminate at Motherwell. Bus services will be in place between Motherwell and Edinburgh Waverley and Transpennine Express services will run to and from Carlisle on Saturday 29^th and Sunday 30^th April.

For more information, passengers are advises to check with their train operator or visit www.nationalrail.co.uk

ENDS