Thinking about travelling on the UK railways during the Bank Holiday? Check before you go

In England and Wales, we’re fast coming up to the Late August Bank Holiday. And we all know what that means – Engineering Works on the Railways.

There are three major programmes of work going on:

West Coast Main Line: Engineering work at various locations between London Euston, Milton Keynes and Northampton.
London Charing Cross and London Cannon Street: No trains will run to/from these London terminals on Saturday or Sunday, and London Charing Cross on Bank Holiday Monday.
Moorgate: No trains will run between Finsbury Park and Moorgate during the bank holiday weekend.

Network rail has a wonderful page on why it selects bank holiday weekends to conduct engineering work.

London Airports

Heathrow

Heathrow Express/Elizabeth Line (Paddington-Heathrow) – No engineering work is planned for the weekend
Piccadilly Line Services are planned to operate normally through the weekend

Gatwick

Gatwick Express- No Engineering work is planned for the weekend
Southern.- No works are planned between Gatwick and London, however, there are plenty of works planned on the Southern network

Stansted

A normal Stansted Express will operate Saturday and Sunday
On Bank Holiday Monday, there will be no Stansted Express or bus replacement service. An alternative train route will operate from Stansted Airport to Cambridge, and then Cambridge to London Kings Cross. It will take approximately 2 hours. You can also get a tube train between London Kings Cross and London Liverpool Street stations. Stansted Express tickets will be accepted for this alternative route (by the London Underground, Great Northern, Greater Anglia and CrossCountry train operators).

Luton

East Midlands Railway may retime some services due to engineering work further up the time in the early morning.
Thameslink services between Luton Airport Parkway and the Thameslink core are planned to operate normally

Long Distance Operators

Avanti West Coast Pendolino arriving at Birmingham International – Image, Economy Class and Beyond.

Avanti West Coast – Planned Train Engineering Works | Avanti West Coast

An amended timetable will be in operation for all services to and from London Euston.
Trains between Holyhead / Bangor / Chester and London Euston will be amended to run between Holyhead / Bangor and Crewe only. Change at Crewe for trains to/from London Euston.
Engineering work will be taking place between Stoke-on-Trent and Stockport. A reduced service of two trains per hour will run to and from Manchester Piccadilly, one will run via Stoke-on-Trent, Alsager and Crewe, and one via Crewe and Wilmslow. A bus service will provide connections to and from Macclesfield.

Caledonian Sleeper – Service Alterations | Caledonian Sleeper

Operates as normal from Euston (no service on Saturday as usual).

CrossCountry – Major Rail Engineering Work Updates | CrossCountry

A long-term engineering project means buses will replace trains through the bank holiday weekend between Newport and Gloucester.

Engineering work is taking place between Kidsgrove and Cheadle Hulme. As a result, trains will be diverted and will not call at Stoke-on-Trent or Macclesfield. The diverted trains will make an extra stop at Wilmslow. To get passengers to and from the missed out stations, buses will run as follows to provide connections:

Macclesfield – Stoke-on-Trent – Stafford
Stoke-on-Trent – Macclesfield – Wilmslow

Engineering work is taking place between Birmingham New Street and Nuneaton on Saturday and Sunday. As a result of this line closure:

Birmingham New Street – Leicester / Stansted Airport: Trains will only run between Nuneaton and Leicester / Stansted Airport. Replacement buses will run between Birmingham New Street and Nuneaton.
Cardiff Central – Nottingham: Trains will run between Cardiff Central and Birmingham New Street, and also between Coleshill Parkway and Nottingham. Replacement buses will run between Birmingham New Street and Coleshill Parkway.
Services to/from North East England / Scotland: Trains will be diverted to run on an alternative route, and will not call at Tamworth. Journey times will be extended by up to an hour.

East Midlands Railway Planned engineering works | EMR

There are some early morning/late night works affecting services. Check before you travel

Grand Central – Upcoming timetable changes | Grand Central Rail

On Sunday 28 August there is engineering work between London Kings Cross and Stevenage, trains will be diverted (via Hertford) resulting in extended journey times.

Great Western Railway – Planned Engineering Work and Disruption | Great Western Railway (gwr.com)

No Major works are planned on the main lines, although there is work across the lower-traffic sections. Check before you travel

Hull Trains – Industrial Action | Travel Information | Hull Trains

Hull Trains advise of potential Industrial Action on Sunday 28 August. The latest information can be found on the Hull Trains website. If services operate, trains will be diverted due to engineering work between London Kings Cross and Stevenage.

London North Eastern Railway (LNER) Travelling over a bank holiday | LNER

Saturday 27 August

In preparation for engineering work taking place on Sunday, the 17.00 service from London Kings Cross to Edinburgh will be cancelled.

Sunday 28 August

Due to engineering work between London Kings Cross and Stevenage, a reduced train service will operate. Trains will be diverted via (but not stopping at) Hertford. Northbound services will depart London Kings Cross approximately 15 minutes earlier than normal.

Monday 29 August

No engineering work is planned to affect services.

Lumo Planned Engineering Works & Upcoming Work | Lumo

On Sunday 28 August, trains will be diverted due to engineering work between London Kings Cross and Stevenage.

South Eastern Railway – Service disruption | Southeastern

Network Rail will be carrying out engineering work during the August bank holiday weekend on the lines to/from London Charing Cross and London Cannon Street. No services will run to/from London Charing Cross or London Cannon Street. The following changes apply:

Paddock Wood Line: Trains between London Charing Cross and Ramsgate via Tonbridge and Ashford will run to and from London Victoria instead, and will stop additionally at Orpington and Hildenborough.
Hastings Line: Trains between London Charing Cross and Hastings will run to and from London Bridge, but will be diverted between London Bridge and Tonbridge to run via East Croydon.
Woolwich Line: Trains between London Charing Cross and Dartford via Woolwich will run to and from London Victoria instead. Trains between London Cannon Street and Slade Green via Greenwich will not run.
Bexleyheath Line: Trains between London Charing Cross and Dartford via Bexleyheath will not run. Services between London Victoria and Dartford via Bexleyheath will run normally.
Sidcup Line: Trains between London Charing Cross and Gravesend will run to and from London Victoria, and will stop additionally at Lewisham. Services between London Cannon Street and Slade Green via Sidcup will not run.
Hayes Line: Trains on the Hayes line will run to and from London Blackfriars instead of London Charing Cross or London Cannon Street and will run every 30 minutes. Trains will stop additionally at Elephant and Castle.
Grove Park Line: Trains between London Charing Cross and Sevenoaks will run to and from London Victoria, and run non-stop between London Victoria and Lewisham. Services between London Cannon Street and Orpington will not run.
Bromley North Line: Trains between Grove Park and Bromley North will be retimed.
Sole Street Line: Stopping services between London Victoria and Gillingham via Denmark Hill will be extended to run to and from Dover in place of trains which normally run between London Victoria and Dover, which will not run.
Replacement buses will run between Lewisham and Charlton via New Cross and Greenwich.

Where can I get further information?

Head to the National Rail Enquiries page at https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service_disruptions/249025.aspx. The individual train operating companies will have their updates loaded too at this point.

Check before you go

Whilst a lot of the UK rail network is open (which is something to be grateful for after the various rounds of strikes), there are going to be delays and diversions for some passengers this weekend.

As usual, allow extra time for your journey and plan ahead – it will save headaches later on.

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