Media centre

Tuesday 11 Jul 2017

Great Britain's transport revolution leaps closer this August bank holiday

Region & Route:

National

• Significant passenger benefits to be realised in the months ahead as Network Rail’s mega-projects start to draw to a close
• More than £133m to be invested in the biggest August bank holiday railway investment programme ever undertaken
• Come 2019, passengers travelling into central London from as far away as Swansea, will see: an extra 170,000 seats; more frequent services on 16 lines serving the capital; longer north-south trains every 2-3 minutes as part of the Thameslink programme and an extra 1.5m people within 45 minutes of the capital once the Crossrail project is complete
• Routes to UK airports unaffected over the bank holiday weekend

Millions of passengers are set to benefit from a transport revolution as Network Rail’s mega- projects reach their crescendo and start on their final laps.

A record amount of rail investment work will be undertaken this August bank holiday as Network Rail completes a significant slug of the £50bn railway upgrade programme that will lead to new services, thousands of extra seats for passengers to help relieve over-crowding, and new, faster trains running on more reliable infrastructure.

Mark Carne, chief executive, at Network Rail, said: “This August, thousands of rail workers will be working round the clock to deliver essential upgrades to the rail network. We will see major milestones met on crucial London infrastructure projects including Crossrail, Thameslink and the Waterloo and South West Upgrade.

“Reaching these major milestones means that passengers will be one step closer to experiencing real benefits by the end of this year with more to come in 2018/19, including more than 170,000 new seats for the daily commute into London – a 20 per cent increase  – as new fleets of trains, running on new and upgraded infrastructure, are introduced.

“These huge investment projects now need several uninterrupted days to complete critical work. We know there is never a good time to disrupt services to get this work done, but it does make sense to do so when fewer people are travelling. Bank holidays and the summer months can see up to 50 percent fewer passengers using the railway.

“This vital investment will make the railway more reliable for years to come, while improving journeys for thousands of passengers. There will be major changes to services throughout August and the bank holiday weekend, so we strongly advise passengers to plan their journeys as early as possible.”

Passengers planning a bank holiday getaway will see normal services running to and from airports. However, there will be significant changes to train services out of London Bridge, London Euston, London Waterloo, London Liverpool Street and London Paddington. A breakdown of how journeys may be affected can be found by visiting nationalrail.co.uk/august and following #AugustBHWorks on Twitter.

There will be major changes to passenger services at the following stations in August:

• London Waterloo: While platforms are extended as part of the Waterloo & South West Upgrade, platforms 1 – 10 will be closed from Saturday 5 to Monday 28 August. On Friday 25 to Monday 28 August the closure extends to include platforms 1 – 14. Throughout the closure, there will be significant reductions services at some stations and several will be closed across the south west rail network.
• London Bridge: Between Saturday 26 August and Saturday 2 September, there will be no Southeastern services to or from London Bridge, Waterloo East and Charing Cross while Network Rail continues to rebuild London Bridge station and the surrounding railway, as part of the Thameslink Programme. Additionally, on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 August there will be no Southeastern trains at Cannon Street and Blackfriars and fewer Southern services to London Bridge.
• London Euston: The installation of a new power supply at Euston station means that no trains will run to or from London Euston on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 August
  
  
• London Liverpool Street: On Sunday 27 and Monday 28 August there will be no train services between London Liverpool Street and Shenfield / Ingatestone / Billericay / Barking
  
  
• London Paddington: From Saturday 19 August to 15 September, services will be impacted on the Paddington to Wales route between Swindon and Bristol Parkway. Diversions for high speed trains and rail replacement services for local services will mean longer journey times
  
  
• Marylebone, Kings Cross, St Pancras and London Victoria stations in London are all unaffected, but are likely to be busier than usual

- ENDS -

Additional information on large-scale projects being delivered this August:

Crossrail East

Description: A number of major upgrades are being carried out by Network Rail on this section of the route in preparation for the arrival of the new Elizabeth line services from 2017. The Crossrail project will provide new trains, better stations and quicker, easier, more reliable journeys for passengers in east London and Essex.

Impact: On Sunday 27 and Monday 28 August there will be no train services between London Liverpool Street and Shenfield / Ingatestone / Billericay / Barking. Bus replacement services in place across some parts of the route with travellers to and from London will be required to interchange at Newbury Park tube station.

HS2

Description: HS2 enabling works are getting underway at Euston, the first step towards a new high speed rail link between London, Birmingham and the North. On Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 August Engineers are installing a new power supply at Euston, which requires a full station shutdown

Impact: No trains will run to or from London Euston on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 August. This will also mean major service changes on London’s largest main line – the West Coast main line.

Thameslink Programme:

Description: From Saturday 27 August to Saturday 2 September major work on the lines in to Charing Cross as part of the Thameslink Programme will mean changes to Southeastern and Southern services. When the Thameslink Programme is completed in 2018 journeys will be improved with new spacious trains every two to three minutes through central London at peak times

Impact: On Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 August there will be no Southeastern services to Blackfriars, Cannon Street, Charing Cross and Waterloo East. On Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 August there will be reduced Southern services at London Bridge. From Saturday 26 August to Saturday 2 September Southeastern services to London Bridge will be significantly reduced with diversions in place to Cannon Street, Blackfriars and Waterloo International terminal at Waterloo station

Waterloo & South West Upgrade:

Description: Work to extend platforms at London Waterloo, as part of the Waterloo & South West Upgrade, means that from Saturday 5 August to Monday 28 August, platforms 1 – 10 will be closed at Waterloo station. On Friday 25 to Monday 28 August the closure extends to include platforms 1 – 14. The Waterloo & South West Upgrade (2017-19) will deliver a bigger Waterloo station, longer platforms for longer trains at Waterloo and at local stations across the suburban south west rail network, as well as brand new trains.

Impact: From Saturday 5 August to Monday 28 August, platforms 1 – 10 will be closed at Waterloo station. On Friday 25 to Monday 28 August the closure extends to include platforms 1 – 14. Throughout the closure, there will be significant reductions services at some stations and several will be closed across the south west rail network.