Passengers advised to check before travelling over Easter and early May bank holidays

London Northwestern Railway passengers are being advised to plan ahead if they intend to travel over the upcoming Easter and early May bank holiday weekends.

Essential planned improvement work will be taking place at London Euston, and also on the West Coast Mainline between Rugby and Birmingham International. There will be major changes to train services as a result, with longer journey times on affected routes.

Services will be affected from Friday 19 until Monday 22 April, and also from Saturday 4 until Monday 6 May. Passengers are advised to travel either side of these dates if they need to make journeys over the holiday periods.

London Northwestern Railway services will be affected as follows:

Easter weekend - Friday 19 April until Monday 22 April

• Friday 19 and Monday 22 April - Trains will operate as far south as Harrow and Wealdstone. Passengers will be able to connect onto London Underground services to/from central London.
• Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 April - Trains will operate as far south as Milton Keynes. Passengers will be able to connect with rail replacement bus services to/from Stanmore for connections onto London Underground services to/from central London.

Rail replacement buses will also be in place between Birmingham International and Rugby from Friday 19 until Monday 22 April.

Early May Bank Holiday - Saturday 4 May until Monday 6 May

• Saturday 4 and Monday 6 May - Trains will operate as far south as Hemel Hempstead. Rail replacement buses will operate to/from Stanmore for connections onto London Underground services to/from central London.
• Sunday 5 May - Trains will operate as far south as Milton Keynes. Rail replacement buses will operate to/from Stanmore for connections onto London Underground services to/from central London.

Richard Brooks, customer experience director for London Northwestern Railway, said: “Our aim is to keep people moving as far as possible if they have to travel on the days affected by these works. Closing a major mainline station is never going to be convenient, but we have a tried and tested plan for operating buses to connect with alternative routes to and from London when Euston is closed. We still advise customers to travel on alternative days as these options will take significantly longer.”

Network Rail is carrying out work at London Euston and in the West Midlands as part of Britain’s Railway Upgrade Plan. The work at Euston is in preparation for the HS2, Britain’s new high-speed railway and includes work to clear additional concourse space to help customers move more freely around the station.Elsewhere on the West Coast main line several sections of track will be completely replaced over both bank holidays, as well as upgrades to overhead lines, signals and points.

Martin Frobisher, route managing director for Network Rail’s London North Western route, said: “We recognise there is never an ideal time to shut the railway for our must-do work. Bank holidays are the least disruptive time to do it when less than half the number of people use the railway compared to the working week. That way we can do the maximum amount of work while impacting the fewest number of people.

“Train companies and Network Rail have worked together to minimise disruption for customers. By doing a lot of work over the Easter and early May bank holidays, we can offer passengers better journeys over the late May and August bank holidays. The alternative would have been closing the line and Euston station over all of these weekends.

“The purpose of our essential maintenance and upgrade work is to keep the railway safe and reliable for the millions of passengers who use it every week. To ensure they know what to expect, I would urge passengers to plan journeys in advance and to check the best days to travel at www.nationalrail.co.uk and with their train operator.”

Robert Nisbet, regional director for the Rail Delivery Group, which represents the railway, said: “Train companies and Network Rail are working together to make big improvements to today’s railway to add more services, improve punctuality and make journeys better. There’s never a good time to carry out vital engineering work but fewer people travel on bank holidays than on a normal weekday. We’d encourage people to check before they travel by visiting National Rail Enquiries or speaking to their train operator.”

Passengers can plan their journeys and check before they travel at www.londonnorthwesternrailway.co.uk

For more information on these works go to www.nationalrail.co.uk/westcoast

ENDS