Rail passengers warned over Easter journeys

Rail passengers planning an Easter getaway are being warned of disruption as Network Rail carries out 530 engineering projects costing a total of £83 million.

The West Coast Main Line will be closed between London Euston and Milton Keynes over the entire four-day bank holiday weekend due to upgrades of the existing line and HS2 work.

Avanti West Coast customers planning journeys between the capital and Scotland are being urged to travel either before Friday April 15 or after Monday April 18.

Signalling work at Clapham Junction means no Southern trains will serve London Victoria, and South Western Railway will run a reduced timetable at Vauxhall.

Services between Birmingham and Coventry will be diverted via Solihull because of bridge renewal work at Coventry South Junction and HS2 preparations at Hampton-in-Arden.

Rail replacement buses will run between Cardiff Central and Ebbw Vale Town due to track upgrade work in the Llanhilleth area of South Wales.

But more than 95% of Britain’s railways will remain open over the bank holiday weekend, according to Network Rail.

Chief executive Andrew Haines said: “The majority of the railway will be open as usual this Easter for people to take a short break or visit loved ones, but some routes will be affected by our upgrade works, so we’re asking passengers to plan ahead and check their journeys in advance.

“We’ll be carrying out hundreds of vital projects that will improve passengers’ journeys in future – for example by improving reliability and boosting capacity on the network.”