This Easter Bank Holiday will see major disruptions to passenger services across the rail network as key engineering works will be conducted to enhance their reliability and performance across Britain.
Whilst more than 95% of the network will be operating as usual, there are more than 600 projects to be delivered through an £88m investment package from Network Rail. Passengers are being advised to plan their journeys ahead to ensure minimal disruption where possible.
The programmes of work have been scheduled for bank holidays to ensure minimal disruption for passengers during the period.
Andrew Haines, Network Rail chief executive, said:
“Our Easter engineering programme has been carefully planned so the majority of the rail network will remain open for business. However, some routes will be affected by this work, so please remember to check before you travel.
“Colleagues from Network Rail and our rail partners will be working hard to deliver £88 million worth of investment during the course of the weekend. These vital projects will upgrade the railway so that we can provide a better and more reliable service for our passengers and freight users in the future.”
Throughout the works, it is estimated that more than 12,000 metres of new rail and 33,000 tonnes of ballast will be laid concurrently to an abundance of other major reliability boosting projects across Britain.
Key dates and projects include:
- Between Friday 7th – Monday 10th April, a variety of track renewal and bridge maintenance works will be conducted between London Euston and Milton Keynes Central
- From Saturday 8th – Tuesday 11th April, key track upgrades will be taking place between Lancaster and Carlisle, resulting in closure along the West Coast main line, forcing Avanti West Coast services to terminate at Lancaster
- Switch and crossings renewals will be performed at Streatham North Junction in a bid to improve safety and reliability, resulting in the closure to platforms 9-19 at London Victoria throughout the bank holiday weekend
- Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th of April will see the delivery of maintenance works and track renewals at Charing Cross
- Kent will have targeted embankment improvements and track renewals from Friday 7th until Saturday 15th April
- Requisite reliability and resiliency improvements will be undertaken at Carstairs, resulting in no viable route through Carstairs Junction to and from Edinburgh Waverley or Glasgow Central via the West Coast main line for the entirety of the bank holiday weekend
- To accommodate the continued advancements of the HS2 project, points conversion works will be performed from Saturday 8th to Monday 10th April
The disruptions caused throughout these upcoming scheduled works will be supplemented with alternative routes and bus replacement services where possible.
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