The August bank holiday weekend is set to see £15m of upgrade work carried out on the railways, however during this period, the majority of the West Coast main line will remain open for passengers to travel.
Bank Holidays are a key part of Network Rail's calendar and provide an efficient time to undertake major upgrade programmes which support both passenger and freight services into the future.
Work being carried out over the August bank holiday weekend 2023 is as follows:
- Between the 26th and 28th of August, will see a £15m investment made to upgrade sections between Stafford and Manchester and Milton Keynes and London on the West Coast main line.
- Work will also take continue on HS2 and will affect those travelling between Birmingham and Derby
Planned work during the August bank holiday will mostly be carried out through the night in order to create as little disruption for passengers as possible, however, some journeys may see some changes during the day.
The work being carried out will include:
- Trackside drainage upgrades will take place in Cheadle Hulme in Cheshire, alongside new track installation in Macclesfield from Sunday the 27th to Tuesday the 29th of August. This work will see CrossCountry services divert via Crewe, with rail replacement buses operating between Stoke-on-Trent and Stockport.
- New railway lines will be installed in Altrincham between Saturday the 26th and Monday the 28th of August. This work will see Northern services terminate at Stockport with rail replacement buses in operation between Chester and Stockport.
- HS2 construction work between Birmingham and Derby will take place from Saturday the 26th to Monday, the 28th of August. This work will see CrossCountry services between Birmingham New Street and Derby impacted with trains to and from Scotland and the North East using alternate routes, which will see journey time extended by up to 1 hour. Sunday the 27th of August – not all services to and from Scotland and the North East will call at Tamworth.
- New West Coast main line track being installed at Wolverton near Milton Keynes, and work above some of London Euston station's platforms will take place from Saturday the 26th to Monday the 28th of August. This work will see trains still able to run in and out of London Euston, however, fewer platforms will be available which means that a reduced timetable will be in operation.
Earlier this year, work was completed, which will mean that the work carried out over the August bank holiday weekend will see a smaller programme of improvement for the North-West and Central region.
Across the country, huge numbers of rail workers will carry out essential upgrades with a national investment of £71m by Network Rail, with more than 500 projects set to take place.
Due to the planned work over the bank holiday period, anyone making journeys by train during this time is advised to check their travel plans using National Rail, with their rail operator, follow on X (formerly Twitter) accounts for @NetworkRailMAN @NetworkRailBHM or @NetworkRailEUS, to see if they are affected.
Passengers travelling on affected routes are advised to add more time than usual to complete their journeys in order to change trains or use rail replacement buses.
Dave Penney, interim managing director of Network Rail's North-West and Central region, said:
“We've made great progress improving the region's railway on previous bank holidays in 2023, which means that during this coming bank holiday break, any work we are doing is impacting fewer passengers.”
“We are still investing £15m in the region's railway, though, which could see some journeys impacted over the last bank holiday weekend this summer. That's why we're advising people to check National Rail Enquiries in advance of 26-28 August, so they know exactly what to expect from their journey.”
