CUMBRIAN rail users planning to travel on the West Coast Main Line during Christmas and New Year are being urged to plan ahead as maintenance work gets underway.
Network Rail has said the work in the north west and central region - which runs from Euston and Marylebone in London, to Scotland via the West Midlands and Cumbria - has been carefully planned to impact the fewest number of passengers.
Most of the railway upgrade plan improvements will happen from the end of service on Christmas Eve until the railway fully reopens on December 27.
Tim Shoveller, managing director from Network Rail’s north west and central region, said: “While people enjoy time with their friends and families over Christmas, thousands of Network Rail staff will be working round-the-clock to maintain and improve the railway to provide passengers with better, more reliable journeys in the New Year.
“I know there is never a good time to disrupt journeys while we carry out large pieces of work but whenever possible we do this at times when there are significantly fewer people travelling by train, such as Christmas and other bank holidays.
“I appreciate people have important plans so I urge them to please plan ahead and check before they travel for the latest journey information.”
The major projects on the north west, central and west coast mainline south routes between December 24 and December 27 include:
- Work in and around Euston station in preparation for HS2
- Work on overhead wire stanchions at Bletchley ahead of a new flyover being built across the West Coast main line to carry East West Rail between Oxford and Bedford
- Track being replaced in Tring and Crewe stations
- Railway drainage improvements between Preston and Lancaster
- Ballast, the stone foundation of the railway, being replaced in Wolverhampton
- Ongoing preparation work for the full resignalling of Birmingham New Street in 2022.
- While there are no trains on Christmas Day, some services do run on Boxing Day. Chiltern Railways will be running services between Marylebone and Oxford Parkway via Bicester Village.
Nationally, more than 20,000 railway staff will deliver around 380 separate projects over the festive period.
Visit www.nationalrail.co.uk for the latest travel informaton.
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