Passengers intending to travel by train over the Christmas and New Year period are advised to check their plans before they travel over Christmas as Network Rail engineers work on 400 projects as part of a 142m upgrade programme to improve the railway and provide better and more reliable services.

On the route between London King s Cross and Scotland there will be no major engineering work, although the East Coast Main Line will be especially busy on Friday, 27th December.

Because of knock-on effects from other main lines on the national rail network being closed it may still be affected. These include:

• The Midland Main Line between London St Pancras and the East Midlands closed for nine days.
• Signalling upgrades affecting services in the Crewe area from Wednesday, 25 December until Thursday, 2nd January.
• London Paddington closed between Friday, 27th and Sunday, 29th December for work on HS2 work at Old Oak Common in West London.

To make it easier passengers travelling during the festive period to plan their journeys, Network Rail and the Rail Delivery Group have also launched some short videos that provide travellers with clear information on planned changes to train services and alternative routes that are available for them to complete their journey.

The videos include subtitles and a British Sign Language overlay to make them more accessible, and be will shown in stations, on National Rail Enquiries and on the social media accounts of Network Rail, the Rail Delivery Group, and Train Operating Companies.

Train operators advise that although they will be working hard to keep people on the move, services are expected to be busy, and passengers should check for the latest information at www.nationalrail.co.uk before starting their journeys, leave extra time to get to the station, and platform, and where possible reserve a seat.

The latest East Midlands travel information can be found online by clicking here.

“Our East Coast Main Line will be open as normal over the festive period, but engineering work on other parts of the rail network may mean busier services. We understand this may be frustrating for passengers, so we appreciate their understanding as we work to carry out vital engineering work across the country. We are advising customers to plan ahead via National Rail enquiries or with their train operator to give themselves extra time for their journeys.”

Paul Rutter, route director for Network Rail’s East Coast route