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Wednesday 5 Apr 2023

‘Travel either side’ advice for rail passengers this Easter bank holiday

Region & Route:

North West & Central

• West Coast main line passengers urged to 'travel either side' of the Easter bank holiday (Thursday 6 April and Tuesday 11 April)
• Between Good Friday and Easter Monday no trains will run to or from London Euston - services will start and finish at Milton Keynes
• Journeys on those days will involve rail replacement buses, and other routes will be extremely busy
• Currently CrossCountry services through the Midlands are not running south of Oxford with the rail route closed for emergency viaduct repairs
• Long distance travellers are urged to re-check with their train operator on the impact this urgent work has on journeys

Passengers travelling between London Euston and Scotland and through the Midlands over the Easter bank holiday are being reminded that the best time to travel is either side of the long weekend.

Between Good Friday (7 April) and Easter Monday (10 April), Euston station will be shut to main line train services for the final phase of upgrades to track and signalling at Watford junction.

As this work needs the entire railway to be closed over the four-day long weekend, trains will start and finish at Milton Keynes instead.

For that reason Network Rail is advising that people should travel on Thursday 6 and Tuesday 11 April, before and after the railway through Watford is closed.

• Read more: Why is Euston station closed this Easter

Passengers needing to travel on the days in between will have longer journeys, fewer available seats, and will need to use rail replacement buses.

The knock-on impact of the current emergency closure of a railway viaduct over the River Thames in Oxford will also mean alternative rail routes will be extremely busy over Easter.

• Read more: Railway between Didcot Parkway and Oxford to remain closed until after Easter

For that reason, Chiltern Railways has advised only essential travel on its services.

From 7-10 April, our services will be very busy due to closures on other routes.

Please only travel if essential, and check your journey before you travel.https://t.co/1blAQ573Pv pic.twitter.com/FTQ6dkWYhG

— Chiltern Railways (@chilternrailway) April 5, 2023

CrossCountry passengers heading for the south coast are being advised to change at Birmingham New Street for West Coast main line services to Milton Keynes, where they can transfer onto rail replacement shuttle bus services to Bedford for onward train travel into London St Pancras to make connections to their final destinations.

Long distance rail travellers are urged to visit its website for temporary timetables brought in for passengers during the unexpected disruption www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/disruption.

Travelling during the Easter period 7-10 April? With no trains running to/from London Euston on the Westcoast mainline, CrossCountry services between Manchester and Oxford will be busier than usual. Please plan ahead and allow extra time for your journey https://t.co/ZphlymFBDM pic.twitter.com/M42IKjFzn0

— CrossCountry trains (@CrossCountryUK) April 5, 2023

Those with pre-booked tickets are being advised to recheck their journeys as soon as possible.

Passengers who have booked assisted travel are also being encouraged to contact their train operator to find out how their journey has changed as a result of the Oxford to Didcot railway closure.

Dave Penney, Network Rail passenger director for the North West and Central region, said: “We're reminding people that the best time to travel on the West Coast main line and Chiltern main line this Easter is on Thursday 6 and Tuesday 11 April - before and after we must close parts of the railway to carry out multi-million pound improvement work. 

“This advice becomes even more pertinent with the urgent closure of a railway viaduct south of Oxford used by CrossCountry services, as the knock-on impact over the Easter weekend will make alternative routes very busy. Please check with your train operator directly if you think you could be impacted by that - especially if you have booked assisted travel.”

Other essential work which will see parts of the railway in Network Rail’s North West and Central region closed over the bank holiday include:

• A bridge replacement in Sutton Coldfield (closing the Cross City line between Birmingham New Street and Lichfield Trent Valley on 7-10 April)
• A railway closure between Lancaster and Carlisle for multiple track upgrades along the West Coast main line (8- 11 April). This also results in rail replacement buses on the Lakes line between Windermere and Oxenholme.
• Switches and crossings upgrade at Weaver junction in Cheshire on Easter Sunday meaning no direct services from Crewe to Liverpool.
• Longer journeys through Crewe due to improvements to signalling (7-11 April)
• Ongoing improvements to the Hope Valley line between Sheffield and Manchester
• Changes to West Coast main line journeys in Scotland because of continuing Carstairs junction upgrades

Passengers should plan ahead at www.nationalrail.co.uk or check with their train operator for the latest journey information.

People can also follow the progress of improvement work using the #EasterRailWorks hashtag on Twitter.