Major West Coast rail upgrades set to disrupt Christmas and New Year travel
UK rail passengers brace for essential maintenance and upgrade work over the festive period. The drive aims to boost reliability on the busy West Coast Main Line in 2024 — but expect delays over Christmas and New Year.
Work scheduled around Christmas to limit disruption
The upgrade plan is carefully timed to avoid ruining your festive plans. Most work kicks off after trains stop running on Sunday, December 24, and wraps up before services resume on Wednesday, December 27. But don’t be surprised by ongoing work on New Year’s Day itself, January 1, 2024.
What’s getting a makeover?
- Track, overhead wires, and signalling upgrades on the southern approach to Birmingham New Street Station.
- Platform 3 at Lichfield Trent Valley gets a new deck and is set to reopen early next year on the Cross City line.
- Connecting Northampton’s Strategic Rail Freight Terminal to the West Coast Main Line to handle more freight trains in 2024.
- Track, wires, signalling, and bridge work between London Euston and Crewe.
- Vital steelwork and drainage repairs at Manchester Piccadilly.
- Track maintenance in Oxenholme, Lake District.
HS2 bridge work adds to festive rail chaos
The High-Speed 2 (HS2) project is also busy building a new bridge between Birmingham and Derby. This bridge will let high-speed trains run over existing lines. Expect this work to clash with Christmas Day and Boxing Day improvement efforts, causing further disruption.
Delays, diversions, and replacement buses on New Year’s Day
Passengers face busy trains, longer journeys, and bus replacements due to New Year’s Day railway closures. CrossCountry and Avanti services through the West Midlands will be rerouted around work zones, extending travel times. Some trains will end at Birmingham New Street, forcing changes. Replacement buses will run between Crewe, Runcorn, Liverpool Lime Street, plus Lancaster, Carlisle, and Glasgow.
Travel tips: Plan ahead this festive period. Always check the latest info on National Rail or your train company’s website before travelling.
Need help? Call the 24-hour National Rail helpline on 03457 11 41 41 or visit the Contact Us page for support.
