More rail works on the way over Christmas period

Replacement buses have been running between Blackpool and Preston since Saturday, marking the launch of a 19-week plan to electrify the line.

And now a series of rail engineering projects have been announced which will disrupt travel over the Christmas period.The West Coast main line will be halted between Preston and Lancaster from December 24 to 27, with buses replacing trains.

Elsewhere over Christmas, Great Western Railway advised passengers to complete journeys by December 23 “at the latest” as London Paddington will be closed between Christmas Eve and December 27.

Passengers travelling between London and Glasgow during this time are advised to go via Edinburgh, adding around an hour to journeys.

These and other projects are among Network Rail’s biggest ever Christmas investment programme.

Chief executive Mark Carne said: “While most of the network is open for business as usual, some routes are heavily affected and so we strongly advise passengers to plan ahead this

Christmas. We know that our railway is up to 50 per cent quieter than usual during the festive period so taking on and delivering these huge transformational schemes at this time of year minimises our impact on passengers.”

He added that many passengers are on the cusp of seeing their journeys “transformed”.