If you were planning to travel via Euston station this Easter, try to change your plans, as the station will be closed all weekend.
Network Rail has outlined its Easter weekend engineering plans, and although they say 95% of the railway will be open, there will be disruptions.
West Coast Main Line track renewals (c) Network Rail
For Londoners and visitors to London, the main impact will be the closure of London Euston station over the entire weekend. Euston will be closed because of engineering work on the West Coast Main Line, as Network Rail will be laying new track near Kensal Green tunnel and replacing a busy junction just south of Milton Keynes.
Some of the lines out of Liverpool Street and around south London will also be closed, and the core section of the Elizabeth line will be closed all weekend.
On the other hand, the London Underground will have minimal disruptions this Easter.
A summary of each individual England rail company follows:
Avanti West Coast
No trains to and from London Euston station over the entire of Easter while Network Rail carry out improvement work, and other parts of the West Coast Main Line are also affected.
- Avanti West Coast trains to London will end at Milton Keynes Central station
- Replacement buses will take you to Bedford station
- From there you can catch a train to London St Pancras, just down the road from Euston
To assist travel around Easter weekend, all Avanti West Coast services from Thursday 28th March to Monday 1st April inclusive are classified as off-peak.
c2c
No changes to services have been announced.
Chiltern Railways
The railway is closed between Great Missenden and Aylesbury all weekend. No Chiltern Railways train services will operate between Marylebone and Aylesbury Vale Parkway (via Amersham). Rail replacement buses will operate.
In respect of the Euston – Birmingham New Street closure, an enhanced Chiltern Railways service will operate between Marylebone – Birmingham Moor Street, with lengthened and some additional trains.
CrossCountry
Nothing reported yet.
East Midlands Railway
Buses replace trains between Peterborough and Ely / Cambridge over the entire weekend.
Also, some late night services will be affected over Easter.
Elizabeth line
No service between Abbey Wood / Stratford and Paddington all weekend.
Trains will operate between Shenfield and Liverpool Street National Rail station (not serving Whitechapel) and between Paddington National Rail station and Heathrow / Reading.
Gatwick Express
No engineering works planned – service will operate normally.
Grand Central
On 30th and 31st March only, due to engineering works between Bradford Interchange and Wakefield Kirkgate, all services will either start/terminate at Streethouse or York.
Great Northern
No trains between Peterborough / Cambridge and Ely all weekend.
On Easter Sunday – no trains between Alexandra Palace and Stevenage via Hertford North.
GWR
Trains between London Paddington and Plymouth or Penzance will use an alternative route via Swindon due to engineering work at Taunton.
Greater Anglia
A Saturday level of service is planned to operate on all Greater Anglia routes. Norfolk/Suffolk local services will continue to operate to normal Monday-Friday times.
All weekend
Shenfield to Witham line closed. Buses between Billericay and Chelmsford, Hatfield Peverel and Witham. Local buses between Shenfield and Ingatestone.
Cambridge to Ely line closed. Buses between Cambridge and Ely via Cambridge North.
Cambridge to Bury St Edmunds line closed. Buses between Cambridge and Bury St Edmunds via Newmarket.
Sunday and Mondau only
No service between London Liverpool Street and Cheshunt via Hackney Downs and Seven Sisters all day.
Hackney Downs station will be closed.
West Anglia and Stansted Express services will be diverted between London Liverpool Street and Cheshunt, running via Stratford and Tottenham Hale.
Heathrow Express
No service before 7:20am on Easter Sunday – no other disruptions planned
Hull Trains
On Easter Sunday: The first northbound service from London will depart slightly later at 08:28.The first southbound service from Hull will depart slightly later at 08:05.
LNER
There will be some changes to a select number of services and stations, but most services will run normally.
London Northwestern Railway
No trains on the Abbey Line – between Watford Junction and St Albans Abbey from Good Friday to Easter Sunday.
No service between London Euston and Milton Keynes all weekend.
London Overground
No service between Highbury & Islington and New Cross / New Cross Gate / Clapham Junction all weekend.
Special service will run between London Bridge and West Croydon on Easter Sunday only.
Lumo
No changes to services have been announced.
Merseyrail
No changes to services have been announced.
Northern
Quite a lot of closures, rather complicated, best to look on their website.
South Western Railway
All weekend – no trains between Hounslow and Virgina Water / Windsor & Eton Riverside
Sat & Sun
- No trains between Motspur Park and Epsom.
- No trains between Woking / Guildford and Aldershot / Haslemere
Sat to Mon
- No trains between Axminster and Exeter St Davids
Southeastern
All weekend:
Engineering work is taking place between Brixton and Nunhead, closing all lines.
- Bexleyheath Line: Trains between London Victoria and Dartford will not run. Additional trains will run between Cannon Street and Dartford via Bexleyheath.
- Sole Street line: Trains between London Victoria and Gillingham via Denmark Hill will run non stop between London Victoria and Bromley South. On Sunday, these trains will only run between London Victoria and Gillingham because of further engineering work.
Engineering work is also taking place between Hither Green and Sidcup / Dartford, closing all lines.
- Good Friday, Saturday & Easter Monday:
- Sidcup Line: Trains which usually run between London Charing Cross and Dartford via Sidcup will not run. Trains which usually run between London Charing Cross and Gravesend via Sidcup will only run between Sidcup and Gravesend.
- Easter Sunday:
- Sidcup Line: Trains which usually run between London Charing Cross and Dartford via Sidcup will be diverted to run via Bexleyheath. Trains which usually run between London Charing Cross and Gravesend via Sidcup will not run.
Easter Sunday only:
Trains between London Victoria and Ashford International will not run. Additional trains will run between Maidstone East and Ashford International.
Southern
All weekend
No service between Shepherd’s Bush and Watford Junction
No service between Lewes and Bexhill
Easter Sunday
No trains will run between Purley and Caterham or between Purley and Caterham.
Trains between London Victoria and Reigate will run between Redhill and Reigate only. You should use alternative Southern or Thameslink services between London and Redhill.
No Southern trains will run between London Bridge and East Croydon calling at stations via Sydenham due to additional engineering work affecting trains between London Victoria and London Bridge. There will be a London Overground special service on the day between London Bridge and West Croydon.
No service between Balham and Sydenham via Streatham Hill and Crystal Palace.
Stansted Express
On Sun and Mon only – longer journey times due to diversion.
Thameslink
All weekend – no service between Herne Hill and Bromley South. Thameslink Sevenoaks / Orpington services will run to a revised timetable and divert via Kent House, calling additionally at Beckenham Junction and Herne Hill.
Easter Sunday only – no service before 8:30am between Luton and Bedford.
TransPennine Express
No trains through Huddersfield station affected a wide range of services.
West Midlands Railway
Easter Sunday only – no early morning trains between Wolverhampton and Birmingham International.
Possible typo: “No trains will run between Purley and Caterham or between Purley and Caterham.”
No doubt the media will do their usual “bank holiday rail chaos” reports and give the impression that Network Rail only decided to do this on Maundy Thursday rather than be planned months and years in advance and have been include in the journey planner for 3 months.