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Monday 18 May 2026

Reminder: Britain’s railway open for business this late May bank holiday – but passengers should check before they travel

Region & Route:

National

The vast majority of Britain’s rail network will be open for passengers travelling this late May bank holiday – despite planned engineering work.

However, people are reminded to check before they travel on some routes, as we deliver £64 million of upgrades to improve reliability.

This late May bank holiday runs from Saturday 23 to Monday 25 May, with improvement work including:

• East Coast Main Line: Work continues to rebuild a junction at Tollerton in North Yorkshire, meaning buses will replace trains between York and Darlington from Saturday through to Monday, with a limited train service from Northallerton to Darlington. Trains restart on Tuesday 26 May.
• Transpennine: The Transpennine Route Upgrade’s major programme of improvements between Manchester, Huddersfield and Leeds continues into June, including the installation of overhead wires for electric trains, a new bridge, track and station improvements.
• Great Western Main Line: Work gets underway on a two-week programme of improvements to the Severn Tunnel’s power supply and track around Patchway, improving reliability for passengers and cutting disruptive maintenance needed in the area. Buses replace trains between Newport and Bristol Parkway with one through train an hour between South Wales and London via Gloucester from Saturday 23 May until Monday 8 June, with normal services resuming on Tuesday 9 June.
• Thameslink: There will be no Thameslink “core” services running between Finsbury Park and London Bridge from Saturday to Monday. This means Thameslink trains from the north of London will start and end their journeys at Kings Cross and St Pancras and services from the South will start and end their journeys at London Bridge.
• Portsmouth: Network Rail and South Western Railway (SWR) are continuing their investment in the Portsmouth Direct Line with the next phase of signalling and track upgrades taking place from Monday 25 May to Friday 29 May. While this work takes place buses will replace trains between Havant, Fareham and Portsmouth Harbour.

Anit Chandarana, Network Rail’s group director, System Operator, said: “While the vast majority of our railway is open as usual this coming bank holiday, we have three major projects about to get underway, with a huge programme of improvements in Yorkshire as part of the £11bn Transpennine Route Upgrade, a two-week project to increase reliability in the Severn Tunnel between Wales and England and a five-day project to improve the railway around Portsmouth and Havant.

"Bank holidays are still among the least busy times for us in terms of passengers, so it makes sense to plan these major improvements for those days. I know it can be frustrating to have to check before you travel, but this investment is about making everyday journeys better – improving reliability, reducing future disruption and helping the railway work better for passengers.”

Passengers are advised to check with their operator on at National Rail Enquiries to plan their journeys and check for planned disruption.