Network Rail will be carrying out important work on rail routes in North West England over the festive period, and is warning of disruption to train services.

The work will upgrade sections of track in Cumbria and upgrade railway equipment on the approach to Manchester Piccadilly, the region’s busiest railway station.

The work will include:

• upgrades to signalling structures at Ardwick junction to make them more reliable
• replacing track and ballast on the West Coast main line in Oxenholme in the Lake District and Bolton-le-Sands in Lancashire
• improving the roof at Manchester Piccadilly station.

Work will also continue on the Transpennine Route Upgrade, including:

• piling to create a retaining wall supporting the railway line at Clayton Vale in Manchester
• installing lighting to illuminate the recently-remodelled junction at Stalybridge.

Network Rail has arranged to carry out a lot of this work on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, when trains do not run, in order to minimise disruption. However, this and other work may impact on services before and after Christmas, so it is advising people to check their journeys.

It is also warning passengers of work on Monday 1 December in the West Midlands which may impact long-distance train travel, and is urging them to plan journeys in advance.

Avanti West Coast and CrossCountry will run significantly reduced services between Birmingham New Street and Birmingham International stations, and the trains they do run are likely to be very busy.

More information can be found here.

Phil James, Network Rail’s North Wes route director, said: “Hundreds of railway staff will once again be giving up their Christmas dinners to work upgrading the essential infrastructure which keeps passenger and freight trains running throughout the rest of the year.

“This Christmas in the North West the majority of our work won’t be disruptive to people’s travel plans. However with work taking place on other parts of the network we’d always advise people to check National Rail Enquiries to plan in advance, so they know exactly what to expect from their journey.”