Rail passengers warned about bank holiday disruptions

Rail passengers planning to travel over the early May bank holiday weekend are being warned to check their journeys with major engineering work closing all lines in and out of London Euston.

Network Rail is carrying out track renewal work on the West Coast Main Line between May 1 and 3 to improve the reliability of the rail infrastructure. Preparatory works for HS2 will also take place.

The work means no London Northwestern Railway (LNR) services will run on the West Coast Main Line south of Milton Keynes, with road transport in operation at stations between Milton Keynes and London.

Passengers are being advised to travel on Friday 30 April or Tuesday 4 May.

Lawrence Bowman, LNR customer experience director, said: “I am urging our customers who plan to travel over the early May bank holiday weekend to consider making their journeys on an alternative date to avoid this major disruption.

“This extensive track renewal work will improve the reliability of the rail network but means that no trains will run between Milton Keynes and London Euston for three full days.

“Any passengers needing to make truly essential journeys during this time should consider alternative routes where possible, check their journeys very carefully in advance and allow extra time. ”

Across the country, Network Rail is carrying out £80million of improvements across more than 600 different projects over the bank holiday weekend.

James Dean, director of the West Coast South route at Network Rail, said: “There is never an ideal time to shut the railway and we have worked hard to minimise disruption across the spring and summer, including moving work over the Easter and spring bank holidays.

“It is fantastic to see more passengers return to the railway and we want to make journeys as easy as possible for those travelling over bank holidays. We are carefully balancing that with the need to carry out essential railway improvements and maintenance to provide a safe and reliable railway for the future.

“The scale of work planned this May will mean changes for passengers but we 're working with train companies to minimise disruption to people as much as possible. ”

Passengers can check their journey here or by following @LNRailway on Twitter for live train information.