Network Rail warns of Christmas disruption to West Coast Mainline

Network Rail is urging passengers travelling over Christmas to plan their journeys in advance to avoid disruption due to upgrades and work on the West Coast Mainline.

With passenger numbers typically down 50-60% between the seven days between Christmas and New Year compared with typical travel in November and December, engineering work carried out over the festive period causes much less disruption than it would during a busier, regular week. While 95% of the UK rail network will be unaffected by work, the West Coast Mainline between London Euston and the North-west will see some disruption.

Resignalling work in the Crewe area between Wednesday 25 December and Thursday 2 January will see no trains pass through the Cheshire town  on Friday 27 December with a reduced service to Manchester from Saturday 28 December until Friday 3 January.

Services to and from Birmingham New Street will start later than usual on New Year’s Day as a result of tamping taking place near the station overnight. Track upgrades between Watford and Milton Keynes will also affect services into London between Wednesday 1 and Saturday 4 January. Work to deliver the HS2 station at Old Oak Common will also see services that normally terminate at Paddington diverted into Euston, meaning the West Coast Mainline’s London terminus may be busier that usual.

In Stockport, however, the installation of a new bridge and overhead line improvement work at Greek Street Roundabout will take place while the railway is closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, but road traffic may be impacted.

Christian Irwin OBE, Network Rail’s North West & Central Capital Delivery director said:

“It’s really important to us that passengers reach their destinations safely and timely for the festive period so we urge people to plan ahead for their journeys. With fewer people travelling by train, Christmas provides a unique opportunity for us to complete vital work to improve the reliability and safety of the railway.

“London Euston station is expected to be extremely busy due to planned work on other routes, so we’re asking passengers to consider travelling before 24 December or after 2 January for a more comfortable journey.”

Timetables for train services running over the festive period will start to go live from the first weekend in October and passengers asked to plan their journeys during this period as soon as they can.