Media centre

Tuesday 7 Feb 2023

Railway work to affect CrossCountry services from this weekend

Region & Route:

North West & Central

| North West & Central: Central

Rail passengers are being advised of changes to journeys over the next four weekends while essential railway upgrades take place at Water Orton in North Warwickshire and Duddeston in Birmingham.

Construction work will take place on two new structures which will carry future lines for HS2 – Britain’s new zero carbon, high-speed railway.

The work will see:

• Site preparations for a new bridge to take Aston Church Road over the existing and future railway lines in Duddeston
• Lifting and installing pre-cast concrete beams for Heartlands Park Bridge - an HS2 viaduct in Curdworth

The scale of the projects means the railway must be closed in both areas for engineers to safely carry out their work.

To keep passengers on the move buses will replace trains between Coleshill Parkway and Birmingham New Street on :

• Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 February
• Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 February
• Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 February
• Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 March

Passengers are being advised that journeys will take longer, could involve rail replacement bus services and that timetables will be different.

The routes affected include services between:

• Birmingham New Street and Leicester, Peterborough, Cambridge and Stansted Airport
• Cardiff Central and Birmingham New Street to Nottingham
• Scotland, the North East to Birmingham New Street and the South West

CrossCountry’s long distance trains will be diverted around the work but this will mean longer journey times.

Meanwhile the train operator’s regional services linking the East Midlands and Anglia with Birmingham will start and finish at Coleshill Parkway.

Replacement buses will operate between Coleshill Parkway, Water Orton and Birmingham New Street.

Patrick Cawley, director for ‘On Network Works’ for Network Rail and HS2, said: “We’re making great progress on HS2 and a key part of this is making sure it works in harmony with the existing railway, as seen by the ambitious rebuild of the SAS 13 railway bridge last May.

“While this latest phase of work takes place I’d urge people to please check before they travel with CrossCountry or by using the National Rail Enquiries website or app, and I thank everyone in advance for their patience while we help build this railway for the future.”

John Robson, regional director East Midlands & East Anglia for CrossCountry, said: “We are working collaboratively with our industry colleagues at Network Rail, HS2 and West Midlands Trains on detailed alternative arrangements for our customers to ensure the disruption to their journeys is kept to a minimum. There will be extended journey times for everyone travelling on the affected routes, and on our regional services travel into and out of Birmingham New Street will involve transfer to and from a frequent rail replacement bus service at Coleshill Parkway.

“We are putting extra facilities and staffing in place to ensure passengers can interchange between trains and buses as smoothly as possible. I’d urge people to please check before they travel using the National Rail Enquiries website or app.” 

Passengers who need extra help while travelling are advised to contact CrossCountry’s Passenger Assist team by calling 0800 030 9224 or emailing assistance@crosscountrytrains.co.uk.