Media centre

Tuesday 26 May 2020

West Coast main line upgrades completed over late May Bank Holiday

Region & Route:

North West & Central

| North West & Central: West Coast Mainline South

Passengers are being thanked for their patience after critical work on the West Coast main line was completed over the late May Bank Holiday weekend.

Hundreds of railway engineers carried out vital maintenance to track, bridges and railway equipment in Cumbria, Lancashire, the West Midlands, Greater Manchester and London as part of Britain’s Railway Upgrade Plan.

The completed West Coast main line work includes:

• A major junction being replaced at Euxton near Chorley
• Track improvements in Wembley, Camden, Carlisle, Wolverhampton and Preston
• A large signalling gantry being installed in Preston
• A footbridge being replaced in Stockport

Tim Shoveller, managing director for Network Rail’s North West & Central region, said: “The schemes we carried out in May were all must-do work which was carefully planned to minimise disruption to freight and those who needed to travel. It will help to ensure the railway is at its best when Britain emerges from this coronavirus pandemic.

“Our mission-critical frontline colleagues, including railway upgrade engineers, signallers, maintenance, control room and operations staff, are Britain’s hidden heroes, helping to keep Britain connected in this time of need. And I’m proud of them.”

Meanwhile passengers are reminded about changes to journeys while overnight work takes place at London Euston to make overhead electric power cables more reliable.

During extremely hot weather, overhead wires can sag and then catch on passing trains, resulting in them being torn down. When this happens, the line must be closed for repairs, trains can become stranded and passengers’ journeys are disrupted.

The work on the approach to Euston will see the installation 2,000 metres of new cable, renewing of essential overhead line equipment, and use of special on-track machines to ensure the new wires are at the correct tension.

Passengers are being advised there will be changes to some trains when the work will take place:

• Between 8pm and 8am on Monday 25 May –  Friday 4 June
• Overnight on Thursday 4 June to Friday 5 June (passengers are advised not to travel after 9pm with some changes to services before 8am the following morning)
• Between 8pm and 8am on Monday 15 – Friday 19 June 2020

Passengers should continue following Government guidelines around the use of public transport, and only travel if they have to.

People making such journeys should visit www.nationalrail.co.uk for the latest information. ​