Passengers warned of bank holiday disruption between London and Birmingham – Rail UK

Passengers travelling on the West Coast main line between Birmingham and London over the early May bank holiday are being urged to check before they travel.

Track and drainage improvements are being made which will help to make journeys more reliable for passengers and freight services in the future.

Journeys on the Chiltern Railways route between Aylesbury and Marylebone will also be affected while HS2 work continues in the area.

The improvements between Birmingham New Street and Euston, and on the West Coast main line to London, will mean:

• From Saturday 4 to Monday 6 May, trains between Coventry and Birmingham New Street will be diverted and rail replacement buses will be in operation while 400 metres of drainage is replaced in the Berkswell area.
• Euston station will be closed to main line train services on Sunday 5 May while major track upgrades take place at Wembley, Leighton Buzzard and Stafford. Trains to and from the south on the West Coast main line will start and finish at Milton Keynes.

The improvements on the Chiltern Railways route between Aylesbury and Marylebone will mean:

• On Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 May, there will be changes to journeys between Great Missenden and Aylesbury while HS2 engineers continue work to prepare for a new 350m viaduct being built over the existing railway in Wendover

Network Rail and train operators Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, West Midlands Railways, and London Northwestern Railways are advising passengers to plan ahead and check before they travel as journeys could take longer, there might be fewer available seats, and they may need to use rail replacement buses.

Martin Colmey, operations director for Network Rail’s Central route, said: “We have been making great progress on major rail improvements this spring and I’d like to thank passengers for their continued patience while we carry out more must-do work between 4 and 6 May.

“We have seen extremely wet weather this winter and the replacement of the drainage between Birmingham and Coventry will help to keep train services reliable for both passengers and freight. The work at Great Missenden is vital as part of the ongoing construction of HS2.

“We know there is never an ideal time to shut the railway but bank holidays continue to be the least disruptive time for us to carry out this essential work. Our advice is to plan ahead and check before you travel with National Rail Enquiries or your train operator.”

Image credit: Network Rail