Rail companies urge only essential travel over Easter weekend

  • Central

Rail companies are advising people not to travel unless it's absolutely necessary over Easter, as a perfect storm of engineering works and unexpected repairs affects many key services.

Chiltern services, which run to Marylebone from Kidderminster, Stourbridge and Rowley Regis will be the sole route from Birmingham and London over Easter, with services expected to be "extremely busy".

Dave Penney, Network Rail passenger director for the North West and Central region, said: “We're reminding people that the best time to travel on the West Coast main line and Chiltern main line this Easter is on Thursday 6 and Tuesday 11 April - before and after we must close parts of the railway to carry out multi-million pound improvement work. 

“This advice becomes even more pertinent with the urgent closure of a railway viaduct south of Oxford used by CrossCountry services, as the knock-on impact over the Easter weekend will make alternative routes very busy. Please check with your train operator directly if you think you could be impacted by that - especially if you have booked assisted travel.”

Network Rail Advice

  • West Coast main line passengers urged to 'travel either side' of the Easter bank holiday (Thursday 6 April and Tuesday 11 April)

  • Between Good Friday and Easter Monday no trains will run to or from London Euston - services will start and finish at Milton Keynes

  • Journeys on those days will involve rail replacement buses, and other routes will be extremely busy

  • Currently CrossCountry services through the Midlands are not running south of Oxford with the rail route closed for emergency viaduct repairs

  • Long distance travellers are urged to re-check with their train operator on the impact this urgent work has on journeys

Euston station will be shut to main line train services between Good Friday (7 April) and Easter Monday (10 April), for the final phase of upgrades to track and signalling at Watford junction.

Trains will instead start and finish at Milton Keynes.

Network Rail is advising that people should travel on Thursday 6 and Tuesday 11 April, before and after the railway through Watford is closed.