Commuters to be hit by London rail line closure

An engineer checks part of the West Coast train line with his hand. Credit: Reuters

There will be upgrade work on a network rail line, which will cause disruption to commuters travelling between London and the North.

There will be no direct services on the West Coast Main Line from Euston to Milton Keynes, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow on December 23 and 24, thanks to upgrade work in Bletchley in Milton Keynes. Network Rail has advised passengers to add extra time to their journeys because they will need to use other lines to complete their journeys.

The line reopens and returns to normal Xmas service on December 27 but only two of the usual four lines on the West Coast Main line will be working up to and including New Year’s Eve.

Network Rail has told us that the disruption to other lines over the Christmas period has not be been confirmed yet. It said all line closures will be confirmed sometime in early October, after discussions between themselves and train companies.

Network Rail, which is in charge of the national network, says it is carrying out maintenance work at Christmas because there are fewer commuters then and disruption will be minimal.

They estimate that the work on the West Coast Main Line will take no longer than four or five days.