For those of you who are coming to the United Kingdom over Easter, or for those of us who live here, there’s some important news that came out about works that are expected on the British Railway network over the Easter period (29th March – 1st April).
Firstly for those of you coming into the United Kingdom and into London:
Heathrow Express and Heathrow Connect are subject to change due to the work at Reading, with frequencies dropping:
- Heathrow Connect From Good Friday to Easter Monday, a half-hourly train service will run between London Paddington and Heathrow Airport with some trains not stopping at West Ealing or Hanwell.
- Heathrow Express From Good Friday to Easter Monday, a half-hourly train service will run between London Paddington and Heathrow Airport.
Gatwick Express will be running, with engineering work on the 31st March (Easter day), with the following changes
A reduced half-hourly service will run as shown below:
- 00 and 30 minutes past the hour from London Victoria to Gatwick Airport
- 20 and 50 minutes past the hour from Gatwick Airport to London Victoria
Stansted Express will be operating with minor variations and coach services on one day:
- Friday 29 March 2013 – Saturday 30 March 2013 – Trains are diverted and retimed between Tottenham Hale and Liverpool Street. Trains from London leave up to 8 minutes earlier than normal.
- Sunday 31 March 2013 – Replacement coach service until approx 0720, first through services 0705 from London, 0730 from Stansted.Trains are diverted and re-timed between Tottenham Hale and Liverpool Street. Trains from London leave up to 8 minutes earlier than normal.
- Monday 01 April 2013 – Trains are diverted and re-timed between Tottenham Hale and Liverpool Street. Trains from London leave up to 8 minutes earlier than normal.
For other airports (Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow and all other rail connected airports), check with the local train operator at http://www.nationalrail.co.uk
Meanwhile, across of the rest of the rail network, there are two big highlights (if that is ever the right word when it comes to the railways in the United Kingdom) are:
- Major work at Reading causing significant disruption on the Great Western Main Line
- Work between London Euston and Milton Keynes Central on the West Coast Main Line with both Virgin Trains and London Midland changing their timetables – and in some cases switching to bus substitution services.
There are a lot of other local and regional works going on too, so it’s worth heading to National Rail Enquiries, which is worth a long read if you’re thinking of travelling over the weekend.
As always, if you’re relying on the train to get you somewhere for the Easter break (and back again) – plan ahead and be prepared for short cancellations.
