Tuesday 3 May 2022
West Coast main line upgrades complete leaving Platinum Jubilee free
- Region & Route:
- North West & Central
Network Rail has completed a range of essential upgrades to the railway between London Euston, the Midlands and North West this Early May Bank Holiday.
Combined with recent work at Easter, a total of £41.1m has been invested in the North West and Central region to improve passenger and freight services for the future.
Both weekends saw the complete closure of London Euston station for major track upgrades at Watford and Wembley.
Other improvements between Saturday 30 and Monday 2 May included:
- Railway drainage work in Camden to protect tracks from future flooding
- Demolition of an old railway viaduct in Birmingham ahead of the HS2 (SAS 13) bridge renewal this weekend
- Signalling – the traffic lights of the railway – being upgraded in Macclesfield
- Bridge upgrade work in Carlisle
- Track foundation strengthening in Warrington and Carlisle
- Track replacement on the West Coast main line in Carstairs in Scotland
Watch: demolition work as part of the SAS 13 bridge renewal project in Birmingham
Network Rail teams planned as much work as possible into the two bank holidays so the West Coast main line is fully open for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee between 2-5 June.
Today (Tuesday 3 May) as rail services returned to normal after the latest major upgrades, Network Rail thanked passengers for their patience.
Tim Shoveller, managing director for Network Rail’s North West and Central region, said: “I’m extremely proud of the hundreds of workers and contractors who’ve pulled out all the stops over the last two bank holidays to improve the railway for the future.
“I’d like to thank passengers whose travel has been disrupted by our £41.1m upgrades over Easter and Early May. The great news is the West Coast main line and major routes in the Midlands and North West are now in the best possible shape for the Platinum Jubilee weekend when the whole country will join in to celebrate 70 years of our Queen on the throne.”
With the railway expected to be busy for the major national event, passengers are being advised to plan their journeys in advance by visiting www.nationalrail.co.uk.
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
07740 782954
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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