Network Rail is urging rail passengers to plan ahead if they choose to travel by rail over the August Bank Holiday weekend as it prepares to complete 520 projects to maintain and upgrade the railway.

Whilst the majority of the rail network is open, passengers are being advised to check in advance if their route will be affected by improvement works.

Passengers should also wear a face-covering during their journey unless they are exempt, such as children, or those with breathing difficulties.

Andrew Haines, Network Rail chief executive, said: “Throughout this pandemic, we’ve continued to work on the railway to make it more reliable and to improve journeys for passengers. This August Bank Holiday is no different, as we invest over £100m to upgrade the railway. That means some journeys may be different, so if you plan to travel please check your journey before leaving home.

“As lockdown continues to ease, and the nation turns towards recovering from this pandemic, I look forward to welcoming more people back to the railway. We have significantly stepped up cleaning regimes and made sure there are more staff on hand to help with information so you can travel safely.”

The projects to be carried out over the August Bank Holiday weekend include:

• Track replacement work in the Coventry area will make journeys more reliable on the West Coast mainline. A reduced timetable will be in place over the bank holiday weekend, with no direct train services running between Birmingham and London Euston. Replacement bus services will be in operation.
• Signalling control will be moved from Ditton to the Manchester Rail Operating Centre between 29-31 August. During this work, trains will be diverted onto different routes to keep trains running in and out of Liverpool, and some rail replacement buses will be in services between Warrington-Runcorn and Crewe-Liverpool South Parkway.
• Points will be renewed in the London St Pancras area which will improve the safety of tracks and also will work towards the opening of Brent Cross station. This work will affect East Midlands Railway and Thameslink services between 29-31 August, and will see a reduced train service between St Pancras and London Bridge.
• Major work will take place at London King’s Cross as part of the King’s Cross remodelling project, which will increase the reliability on the East Coast Main Line. There will be no services to or from London King’s Cross.
• Point work at Clapton will improve track reliability but work will affect London Overground, Stansted Express and Greater Anglia train services on the 30th August 2020.
• Bridge replacement works at Catford will safeguard the future of the railway between Hayes and Lewisham, and Nunhead to Shortlands. Both of these lines will be closed while the works take place.

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