Rail travellers face lengthy delays over bank holiday

TRAIN passengers travelling on the main rail routes between Scotland and London are among those who will be affected by widespread engineering works planned for the May bank holiday weekend.

TRAIN passengers travelling on the main rail routes between Scotland and London are among those who will be affected by widespread engineering works planned for the May bank holiday weekend.

Travellers hit by disruption will include thousands from Scotland and legions of Liverpool fans going to Wembley for the FA Cup final against Chelsea on Saturday 5 May.

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About nine million passengers are expected to travel by train over the weekend and the rail industry said the “vast majority” would be unaffected by the “improvement” work.

Network Rail and the Association of Train Operating Companies said there would be 17 per cent fewer replacement bus services than there were over the same holiday weekend last year.

The two companies also said that about 45 per cent more trains would run this time than last year.

But nearly every passenger train company will be operating some replacement bus services this time round.

Engineering work on the East Coast Main Line between Edinburgh and London will mean trains travelling south on Sunday 6 May will have journey times extended by an hour.

Three lots of engineering work on the West Coast Main Line, operated by Virgin Trains – will affect many more passengers, including the Liverpool fans travelling to the match, which is scheduled to kick off later than usual at 5:15pm.

All but three of Virgin’s Liverpool to London trains have been cancelled that day, with the last return service leaving just after 8pm – meaning fans face being stranded after leaving Wembley.

The west coast disruption will affect passengers travelling on London Midland services as well. Some London Midland trains between London and Crewe/Birmingham New Street will start and finish at Northampton, with buses replacing trains between London and Milton Keynes Central/Northampton.

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Virgin Trains is replacing trains with buses on some services between Crewe and Liverpool Lime Street, Carlisle and Glasgow Central/Edinburgh.

First Great Western passengers will have to put up with engineering work between Reading West and Newbury in Berkshire, with some Reading-Newbury services being replaced by buses.

Some services to and from London’s Liverpool Street station will also be affected, with no trains running on Greater Anglia services between Liverpool Street and Shenfield in Essex on bank holiday Monday.

First Hull Trains’ services on the Sunday will start and finish at Peterborough and not run to and from London King’s Cross.

Also on bank holiday Monday, the Gatwick Express will operate a reduced half-hourly service until 4pm.

First TransPennine Express services will be affected by four lots of engineering work.

For much of the weekend, buses will replace trains between Carlisle and Glasgow Central/ Edinburgh and on the Sunday there will be a bus replacement service between Preston and Carlisle.

The Association of Train Operating Companies and Network Rail (NR) said: “The rail industry has cut its use of rail replacement buses by a third over the last three years.

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“Network Rail engineers will be working round the clock to lay new track, improve stations and repair bridges to help to deliver a better railway for passengers.”

Planned rail works for the May bank holiday weekend (5-6 May)

East Coast main line

Trains travelling between Edinburgh and London King’s Cross on Sunday 6 May will have journey times extended by an hour due to track renewal work. The majority of northbound trains will leave King’s Cross earlier than normal.

West Coast main line

Virgin Trains is replacing trains with buses on some services between Crewe and Liverpool Lime Street, Carlisle and Glasgow Central/Edinburgh due to engineering works. On Saturday, all services on the London Euston to Glasgow Central route will be withdrawn.

The following services will operate as through services:

0540, 0630 and 0735 Glasgow Central to London Euston 0550, 0800 and 1000 Glasgow Central to Birmingham New St.

0652, 0852 and 1052 Edinburgh Waverley to Birmingham New St.

0557 Crewe to Glasgow Central

0620 and 0820 Birmingham New St. to Edinburgh Waverley 0720 and 0920 Birmingham New St. to Glasgow Central

The 1132 Glasgow Central to Birmingham New St. service will operate as a through service, diverted via Dumfries.

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On Sunday 6 May, rail replacement coaches will operate in both directions between Carlisle – Glasgow Central and Carlisle – Edinburgh Waverley

First TransPennine Express

For much of the weekend, buses will replace trains between Carlisle and Glasgow Central/Edinburgh.

On Saturday, the 0900, 1300 and 1700 Manchester Airport to Glasgow Central services will terminate at Carlisle. Replacement buses will operate from Carlisle to Glasgow Central via Lockerbie. Journey times will be extended by approx 45 mins.

The 1000, 1200, 1400 & 1600 Manchester Airport to Edinburgh services will terminate at Carlisle. Replacement buses will operate from Carlisle to Edinburgh via Lockerbie. Journey times will be extended by approx 90 mins.

The 1309 and 1706 Glasgow Central to Manchester Airport services will start from Carlisle. Replacement buses will operate from Glasgow Central (dep 1225 & 1623) via Lockerbie (1340 & 1738) to Carlisle to connect.

The 1208 Edinburgh to Manchester Airport service will start from Carlisle.

The 1407, 1612 and 1812 Edinburgh to Manchester Airport services will start from Carlisle. Replacement buses will operate from Edinburgh (dep 1229, 1435 & 1630) via Lockerbie (1439, 1645 & 1840) to Carlisle to connect.

On Sunday, services between Manchester Airport and Edinburgh / Glasgow Central will operate between Manchester Airport and Preston only.

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Replacement buses will operate between Preston and Carlisle via Lancaster, Oxenholme and Penrith.

A separate replacement bus service will operate between Carlisle and Edinburgh (via Lockerbie) / Carlisle and Glasgow Central (via Lockerbie).

Journey times by replacement bus will be significantly longer than by train.