West Midlands passengers urged to plan ahead as upgrade work means no trains between Birmingham International and Rugby this bank holiday

Thursday, 23 August 2018

Train customers in the West Midlands are being urged to check before they travel as upgrade work will affect rail travel between Birmingham International, Coventry and Rugby this weekend (25-27 August).

Buses will replace trains between Birmingham International, Coventry and Rugby from Saturday 25 August to Monday 27 August.

Network Rail engineers will be working in Canley to replace track and in Hampton-in-Arden to improve track drainage. The work is vital to improve the reliability of services through the area.

West Coast main line train passengers are also being urged not to travel to and from London this weekend and next when Euston station will be closed, as Network Rail replaces North Wembley junction – a major intersection on Europe’s busiest mixed-use railway.

Customers are instead being advised to plan their journeys on dates other than 25-27 August and 1-2 September – or risk far longer, busier and less comfortable journeys than normal.

Martin Frobisher, Network Rail managing director for the London North Western route, said: “These upgrades are a vital step towards us being able to provide better, more reliable journeys.

“The work we do is essential to keeping people and goods moving. There is never a good time to carry out engineering work, but we plan it over weekends and bank holidays which are traditionally quieter times to affect the fewest number of people.”

Richard Brooks, customer experience director for West Midlands Railway said: “Our aim is to keep people moving if they have to travel over the August bank holiday. Improvement works are never convenient for anyone, but we will be running replacement buses to and from all stations affected to get people where they need to be. We advise customers to travel on alternative days if possible, as buses are likely to be very busy and will take significantly longer than usual.”

Peter Broadley, executive director for customer, operations and safety at Virgin Trains on the west coast, said: “With no services into or out of Euston we strongly advise our customers to avoid travelling to London on the days affected. We know this will impact on people’s travel plans, particularly over a Bank Holiday weekend so to make it easier we are lifting peak restrictions on the Fridays before these dates from 09:30 for the whole day.”

Passengers can get the latest travel information and plan their journeys at www.nationalrail.co.uk or via their train operator.

For further information on this release, call our press office on 03300 955150 or email [email protected]

Changes to West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway services over the August bank holiday weekend.

• Buses will replace trains at all stations between Birmingham International and Rugby from Saturday 25 August until 1200 on Monday 27 August.
• During this time, West Midlands Railway services will operate as normal between Coventry and Nuneaton, and also between Coventry and Leamington Spa.
• London Northwestern Railway services towards London will operate as far south as Hemel Hempstead from Saturday 25 until Monday 27 August. Rail replacement buses will operate between Hemel Hempstead and Stanmore to connect with London Underground services.

Customers should check for amended timetables at nationalrail.co.uk

Information on bus stop locations can be found on onward travel posters at stations.

About West Midlands Trains

West Midlands Trains operate both West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway services.

• London Northwestern Railway services operate between Liverpool and Birmingham, and on the West Coast mainline to and from London Euston.

• West Midlands Railway services operate to destinations across the West Midlands via Birmingham New Street.

For more information on these services visit westmidlandsrailway.co.uk or londonnorthwesternrailway.co.uk

The West Midlands Trains franchise started on 10 December 2017 and will run until 2025/26.

West Midlands Trains operate 1,300 services a day, manage 150 stations and provide over 70 million passenger journeys a year. Over the course of the franchise, West Midlands Trains will be investing £1 billion into the rail network to deliver new trains, improved routes and station upgrades. This will include 400 new train carriages across the network and space for an extra 85,000 passengers into Birmingham and London at peak times.

The franchise is a joint venture between Abellio (70.1% share) and East Japan Railway Company / Mitsui & Co., Ltd (29.9% share in a 50:50 split). Abellio is the international passenger transport subsidiary of the Dutch national railway company, Nederlandse Spoorwegen. In the UK, Abelllio operate ScotRail and Greater Anglia train services, Merseyrail services in a joint venture with Serco and buses through Abellio London. For more information visit www.abellio.com

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