Media centre

Tuesday 7 May 2024

West Coast main line between London and Scotland reopens after Early May bank holiday upgrades completed

Region & Route:

North West & Central

Network Rail has reopened the railway following major improvements to the network across the North West, West Midlands and route into London Euston which will improve journeys for passengers and freight services.

Between Saturday 4 and Monday 6 May, dozens of Network Rail engineers carried out vital work to make the West Coast main line – Europe’s busiest mixed use railway - more reliable.

Passengers are being thanked today (Tuesday 7 May) for their patience after the work which involved closing sections of the railway between London Euston station and Scotland so engineers could carry out major track and drainage upgrades quickly and safely over the bank holiday weekend.

Improvements included:

• 400 metres of railway drainage replaced in the Berkswell area between Coventry and Birmingham
• Major track upgrades at Wembley, Leighton Buzzard and Stafford
• Almost 1,000 metres of new drainage installed at Golborne between Warrington and Wigan
• Track, overhead electric wire and major drainage upgrades in Crewe
• Important progress to electrify the line between Wigan and Bolton.

In Buckinghamshire important HS2 work was also completed successfully which involved:

• Ongoing work to prepare for a new 350m viaduct to be built over the existing railway in Wendover.

Passengers are being asked to check before they travel ahead of further improvements over the Spring bank holiday weekend from 25 May to 27 May when engineers will carry out track upgrades on the West Coast main line in Milton Keynes, Stafford and Crewe, as well as between Lancaster and Carlisle.

On Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 May there will also be further changes to Chiltern Railways services between Great Missenden and Aylesbury.

For more information and travel advice passengers should check www.nationalrail.co.uk and with their train operator.

James Dean, Network Rail’s passenger director, said: “Thank you to passengers for their patience over the bank holiday weekend while we carried out major track and drainage upgrades to our railway. We only close Euston when absolutely necessary and the track improvements that took place this weekend could not have been delivered while the station was open.

“As we look ahead to the late May bank holiday, our advice is to plan ahead and always check before you travel with National Rail Enquiries or your train operator.”

Passengers are being reminded that due to industrial action taking place this week by the ASLEF union there will be disruption to services from Tuesday 7 May to Saturday 11 May. People should plan their journeys in advance and visit www.nationalrail.co.uk/industrialaction for more information.