Significant Railway Upgrades Expected Over Christmas and New Year

Over Christmas and New Year, tens of thousands of railway engineers will be working round the clock across the country to improve our railway – aiming to make it better, and more reliable.

They will be replacing 45 sets of points (movable sections that transfer a train from one track to another), rebuilding four bridges, installing 40km of new signalling cables, renewing 17 level crossings and testing and switching on seven new signalling systems, all aimed at cutting delays, improving train performance and enhancing reliability.

Across Network Rail’s managed stations, the number of passengers travelling during the seven days between Christmas and New Year typically drops by 50-60% compared to a typical week in November or early December. As a result, engineering work carried out over the festive period causes much less disruption than it would during a busier, regular week.

Helen Hamlin, Network Rail’s director of system operations, said:

“The festive period is a unique opportunity, when fewer people are travelling, to do big pieces of work to make services better, more punctual and more reliable.

“The major projects we’re undertaking would otherwise take many weekends to complete and cause much more disruption. Whilst roads are busier during the holidays, it’s actually one of the quietest times on the railway, meaning we can improve things whilst causing less disruption to passengers and freight flows.

“Most of the railway will be open as normal over Christmas and New Year, so passengers can go ahead and book their travel – timetables will start to go live this weekend. Just be sure to plan ahead as there will be significant changes to journeys on some key routes.”
Network Rail will be undertaking hundreds of projects over Christmas and New Year, the most notable of which are:

Preparatory work for new signalling and track equipment - necessary to deliver trains to HS2’s new Old Oak Common station near Paddington - means that no services will call at London Paddington between Friday 27 and Sunday 29 December inclusive. Some services will instead be diverted to/from London Euston, with the majority of trains starting/stopping at Reading and Ealing Broadway. Passengers for London can change at Ealing Broadway and take a Transport for London service into the city, using either the District or Central lines.
 

There will be significant changes to services in the Crewe area between Wednesday 25 December and Thursday 2 January as resignalling work takes place. Changes to services will differ during this period. No trains will pass through Crewe on Friday 27 December and there will be no direct service to Liverpool and a reduced service to Manchester from Saturday 28 December until Friday 3 January.
 

Various engineering projects will take place on the Midland Main Line between Saturday 21 and Sunday 29 December, meaning passenger services are severely disrupted. There will be no East Midlands Railway (EMR) services between London St Pancras and Bedford and Thameslink services will not run between London St Pancras and Harpenden. Passengers who usually take the train north from London St Pancras will need to use different London stations and connecting buses to reach their destinations.
 

Renewal work at Bishopsgate Tunnel and work to improve passenger experience at London Liverpool Street means the station will be closed from Wednesday 25 December with services resuming on Thursday 2 January. Greater Anglia services, including Stansted Express, will be diverted via Stratford. London Overground services will terminate at London Fields. Passengers should use Victoria line services from Walthamstow Central and Seven Sisters or local bus services to complete their journeys during this closure. 
 

Engineering work including track renewals, renewal of the Cambridge signalling system and construction work for the new Cambridge South station - which will ease congestion and provide quicker and easier access to the city’s biomedical campus- means there will be no services between both Royston/Audley End and Cambridge/Cambridge North between Tuesday 24 December and Monday 6 January. Rail replacement bus services will be in place between affected stations except on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.