London Easter travel disruption is on the cards as Network Rail plans major rail works
Thinking about getting the train over Easter?
You might want to think again, as Network Rail is planning a whole host of works over the bank holiday weekend as part of its railway upgrade plan. Fewer people use services over Easter and Network Rail said it will deliver more than 200 projects across Britain thanks to the work.
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Now some 95 per cent of the railway is meant to be unaffected, but you're going to want to check your journeys as there will be changes to services.
The impact on London services due to Easter bank holiday work:
- London Cannon Street: There will be no Southeastern services arriving or departing on 14 and 15 April. On 16 and 17 April trains will start and terminate at New Cross
- London Charing Cross: There will be no Southeastern services arriving or departing on 14 and 15 April. A normal service will be in place on 16 April, and on 17 April there will be reduced services to London Bridge
- London Liverpool Street: Crossrail East work and overhead line renewal continues between Shenfield and London Liverpool Street which means that there will be no train services from 14-17 April between London Liverpool Street and Ingatestone/Billericay. Replacement bus services will be in place
- London Paddington: Reduced services to Heathrow Airport on 15 April. From 14-17 April, Bath Spa long-distance services between Bristol Temple Meads and London Paddington will be diverted, and will not stop at Bath Spa or Chippenham
- London Victoria: No Southern or Gatwick Express services on Sunday 16 April
- London Waterloo: Reduced and diverted services between 14-16 April
The London Overground will be closed between Camden Road and Stratford while work on a new subway at Hackney Wick station goes on between 14-17 April.
Outside of London, CrossCountry and Virgin Trains East Coast services will not run between Edinburgh and Glasgow Central on 15 and 16 April.
Work on these big infrastructure projects is taking place:
- Crossrail: Significant work on routes out of London Liverpool Street in preparation for the start of Elizabeth line services in 2018
- Thameslink programme: Major work taking place between London Charing Cross, London Cannon Street and London Bridge to work towards a 2018 completion date
- Waterloo station: Major track renewal as part of the Waterloo Station upgrade
- Northern hub: Continued work on the Ordsall Chord project to improve connections in Manchester, and remodelling work at Salford Central station
- West of England: Network Rail is modernising Bath Spa station
Phil Hufton, managing director England and Wales at Network Rail, said:
This Easter, thousands of rail workers will be working round the clock to deliver our railway upgrade plan.
This will provide faster, better services in the long-run and help relieve over-crowding to respond to the huge growth on Britain’s railways.
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