Passengers advised to check their travel plans ahead as 9 days of essential work are carried out at Water Orton in North Warwickshire and Duddeston in Birmingham

The major work will see alterations to track and lineside drainage and will take place from Saturday the 19th of February and finish on Sunday the 27th of February 2022.

The work is part of long-term improvements to the network and also includes preparation work for HS2.

Every endeavour has been made to keep impact to a minimum for passengers but due to the scale of this stage of work means that the railway has to be closed to trains during the nine-day period.

Journeys will take longer and may involve rail replacement bus services and alterations to timetables.

Routes affected by the work will include services between:

• Birmingham New Street and Leicester
• Peterborough, Cambridge and Stansted Airport
• Cardiff Central and Birmingham New Street to Nottingham
• Scotland, the North East to Birmingham New Street and the South West

CrossCountry’s long-distance trains will see diversions around the work in order to keep passengers on the move but will mean longer journey times than usual.

CrossCountry’s regional services that connect the East Midlands and Anglia with Birmingham will start and finish at Coleshill Parkway during the work. Replacement rail buses will be running between Coleshill Parkway, Water Orton and Birmingham New Street.

In order to provide space for the rail replacement buses throughout the work, Coleshill Parkway station car park will be closed from Friday the 18th until 10am on Monday the 28th of February.

Passengers are advised to check their travel plans via http://www.nationalrail.co.uk or by visiting CrossCountry’s dedicated webpage if they are planning to travel on the routes during the period of work.

Patrick Cawley, director for ‘On Network Works’ for Network Rail and HS2, said:

“We’re making great progress on HS2 and a key part of this is making sure it works in harmony with the existing railway.

“While this latest phase of work takes place I’d urge people to please check before they travel with CrossCountry or by using the National Rail Enquiries website or app, and I thank everyone in advance for their patience while we help build this railway for the future.”

Richard Morris, regional director of East Midlands & East Anglia for CrossCountry, said:

“We are working collaboratively with our industry colleagues at Network Rail, HS2 and West Midlands Trains on detailed alternative arrangements for our customers to ensure the disruption to their journeys is kept to a minimum. There will be extended journey times for everyone travelling on the affected routes, and on our regional services travel into and out of Birmingham New Street will involve transfer to and from a frequent rail replacement bus service at Coleshill Parkway.

“We are putting extra facilities and staffing in place to ensure passengers can interchange between trains and buses as smoothly as possible. I’d urge people to please check before they travel using the National Rail Enquiries website or app.”

Passengers needing extra support whilst travelling are urged to contact CrossCountry’s Passenger Assist team on 0800 030 9224 or via email at:  [email protected]