RAIL passengers are being urged to plan their journeys ahead of major engineering work this weekend.

Network Rail is due undertake maintenance work and replace sections of the track and overhead cables on the West Coast main line between Cumbria and London Euston.

Sections of the line will be closed between Saturday and Monday. Where the line is open trains will be running but customers will have longer journeys, fewer available seats, and may need to use rail replacement buses.

Martin Frobisher, managing director of 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 fewer passengers use the railway compared to the working week.

"That way we can do the maximum amount of work while impacting the fewest people. Sometimes a closure is the only way we can carry out major work like replacing track or improvements to overhead electric lines.

"Train companies and Network Rail have worked together to minimise disruption for customers by doing a lot of work over the recent bank holidays. The alternative would have been closing the line over multiple weekends throughout the summer."

The West Coast main line is Europe’s busiest mixed-use railway line and is used by millions of passengers every year.

Visit www.nationalrail.co.uk for more information.