Track upgrades between Preston and Carlisle over next two weekends

Thursday 9 Jan 2025

Track upgrades between Preston and Carlisle over next two weekends

Region & Route:: North West & Central; | North West & Central: North West

West Coast Main Line passengers are being advised about railway improvements over the next two weekends which see no trains running between Lancaster and Carlisle.

Network Rail is carrying out important improvements to railway track from this Saturday (11 January) to make journeys more reliable in the future.

So engineers can safely carry out their work, the line between Lancaster and Carlisle will need to be closed to trains on:

Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 January
Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 January

The work also means there will be changes to some services from Preston.

Passengers are being advised to allow extra time to travel with parts of their journey involving a rail replacement service*.

The best way to find out if your journey could be impacted is to check before you travel at www.nationalrail.co.uk.

When complete railway foundation stone (ballast), sleepers and steel rails will be replaced along a 1.2km stretch of one of Europe’s busiest mixed use passenger and freight rail routes.

Phil James, Network Rail’s North West route director, said: “We know there’s never an ideal time to close the railway and we always try to plan our work to impact the fewest passengers possible. When complete, our work will bring better, smoother and more reliable journeys for passengers and freight on the West Coast Main Line.

“When upgrading the track we have no choice but to close sections of railway and stop trains running so engineers can quickly and safely carry out our work. I’d urge anyone wanting to travel over the weekends concerned to check National Rail Enquiries and plan ahead, allow extra time to get to where you need to be, and be prepared for some of your journey to be by bus.”

For more detail on how Network Rail maintains and upgrades the railway you can visit: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/looking-after-the-railway/track/

Notes to Editors

*Avanti West Coast

Services between London Euston and Blackpool North / Edinburgh / Glasgow Central will terminate at / start from Preston.

A reduced service will run Carlisle and Glasgow Central / Edinburgh.

A replacement bus services will run between Preston and Carlisle.

Caledonian Sleeper

On Sunday, all Caledonian Sleeper services will be retimed and diverted away from the usual route, instead running via Peterborough / York. These services will not call at Watford Junction, Crewe, Preston, Carlisle, Carstairs, or Motherwell.

Northern

Saturday:

Trains between Manchester Airport and Windermere will terminate at / start from Lancaster. Trains between Oxenholme Lake District and Windermere will not run.

Replacement bus services will run between Lancaster / Oxenholme Lake District and Windermere.

Sunday:

Trains between Manchester Airport and Barrow-in-Furness / Windermere will terminate at / start from Lancaster, running to a reduced timetable. Trains between Oxenholme Lake District and Windermere will not run.

Replacement bus services will run between Preston and Lancaster, and between Lancaster and Oxenholme Lake District.

You should use alternative services between Manchester Airport and Preston.

TransPennine Express

Saturday:

Trains between Manchester Airport and Glasgow Central / Edinburgh will run between Manchester Airport and Lancaster only. A separate service will run between Carlisle and Glasgow Central / Edinburgh.

A replacement bus service will run between Lancaster and Carlisle.

Sunday:

Trains between Manchester Airport and Glasgow Central / Edinburgh will run between Manchester Airport and Preston only. A separate service will run between Carlisle and Glasgow Central / Edinburgh.

A replacement bus service will run between Preston and Carlisle.

Check before you travel:

You can plan your journey using the National Rail Enquiries Journey Planner

Replacement Bus Travel Advice:

For helpful advice if you need to travel on a rail replacement service, including accessibility and bicycle information, please use our Rail Replacement Services page.

You can find the pick-up and set-down location of rail replacement services by checking station signage or by searching for your station on our Find a Station page .

Please be advised that replacement vehicles may be busier than usual, and you should allow extra time for your journey.

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 - North West & Central Region
0330 854 0100
NWCmediarelations@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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