REMINDER: Rail passengers urged to check before travelling ahead of August bank holiday: Library picture of track panel being laid during engineering work

Thursday 24 Aug 2023

REMINDER: Rail passengers urged to check before travelling ahead of August bank holiday

Region & Route:
National
  • The majority of the rail network will be open as usual over the forthcoming August bank holiday weekend (Sat 26th to Monday 28th August), however, industrial action means services in England and some cross-border journeys into Scotland and Wales will be significantly disrupted on Saturday 26 August.
  • As the level of disruption will vary across the country, passengers should check their travel arrangements in advance. Timetables are now live, so those travelling over the bank holiday can check the status of their journey at nationalrail.co.uk or with their train operator

Thousands of railway workers will be delivering essential upgrades for passengers and freight customers over the bank holiday weekend as Network Rail invests £71m on around 500 projects across the country.

More than 7,500 metres of new rail and 2,400 sleepers will be installed across the country whilst almost 15,000 tonnes of ballast will be laid over the long weekend.

Though most of the network will not be directly affected by this work, industrial action by the RMT union means services in England and some cross-border journeys into Scotland and Wales will be disrupted on Saturday 26th August, so it’s essential to check journeys before travelling.

Jake Kelly, Network Rail’s director of System Operator, said:

“We’ve carefully planned our bank holiday engineering work to minimise the impact on our passengers and freight customers, and the vast majority of the network will be open so people can enjoy the long weekend.

“However, it’s vital that passengers check the status of their journeys before travelling, particularly on Saturday 26th, when journeys in England, along with some cross-border services into Wales and Scotland, will be disrupted owing to industrial action.”

Major work includes:

  • Reliability-boosting track renewals and signalling upgrades mean a limited service will operate to and from London Euston from 8pm on Saturday (26th) evening until Tuesday (29th). Trains will still run but on a reduced basis, so checking before travelling is essential.
  • New equipment and technology is being installed between Welwyn Garden City and Hitchin, preparing the way for that section to begin using digital signalling from 2025. Upgrade work is also taking place in the Peterborough area, enabling a move of local signalling control to our modern operating centre in York.  Dynamic software is being introduced to efficiently move trains across junctions and reduce delays; the first such deployment on the East Coast Main Line. Between late evening Saturday 26 August and early morning Monday 28 August buses and coaches will replace trains on the East Coast Main Line between Grantham, Royston and Potters Bar/Hertford North.  During that time there will be no train services at Peterborough and buses will also replace trains on services between Grantham/Leicester and Ely.
  • Signal and crossings renewals and maintenance work at New Cross means no services will operate out of London Charing Cross, London Cannon Street and Waterloo East on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th as Services will be diverted to start and terminate from London Victoria or London Bridge.
  • The final stages of a £116m resignalling scheme to boost reliability on the lines between London Waterloo and Windsor will go ahead at the end of August. The existing system is controlled by the Feltham Area Signalling Centre and the current signals and track circuits, which tell signallers where trains are on the network, date back to 1974 and need an upgrade as they have become less reliable and harder to maintain. Following the switching on of the newly installed signals, passengers will benefit from more reliable journeys and fewer delays on the Windsor Lines which are a key route for commuters in and out of London. Bus replacements will be in place between Staines and Windsor and Eton Riverside on Saturday 26th August and between Barnes and Virginia Water, Twickenham and Virginia Water and Twickenham and Windsor & Eton Riverside from Sunday 27 August to Friday 1 September.
  • CrossCountry services between Birmingham New Street and Derby will be affected from Saturday 26th to Monday 28th while work takes place to prepare for HS2, Britain’s new high speed railway. Trains to/from Scotland and the North East will run on an alternative route, meaning journey times could be extended by up to an hour.  On Sunday 27th not all Services to/from Scotland and the North East will call at Tamworth.

ENDS

Contact information

Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41

Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries

Journalists
Network Rail press office - James Crook
Senior Media Relations Manager
Network Rail
07732 644202
james.crook@networkrail.co.uk

About Network Rail

We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.

Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.

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