Northampton railway passengers urged to check before they travel over Christmas and New Year

Anyone planning on getting a train from Northampton over the Christmas and New Year period are being urged to check before travelling as there are a lot of maintenance work planned.
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Most of the railway improvements will happen from the end of service on Christmas Eve until the railway fully reopens on December 27.

The work in the north west and central region, which runs from Euston and Marylebone in London to Scotland via the west Midlands and north west, will make the railway more reliable, according to Network Rail.

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North west and central region managing director Tim Shoveller said: “While people enjoy time with their friends and families over Christmas, thousands of Network Rail staff will be working round-the-clock to maintain and improve the railway to provide passengers with better, more reliable journeys in the New Year.

Northampton Railway StationNorthampton Railway Station
Northampton Railway Station

“I know there is never a good time to disrupt journeys while we carry out large pieces of work but whenever possible we do this at times when there are significantly fewer people travelling by train, such as Christmas and other bank holidays.

"I appreciate people have important plans so I urge them to please plan ahead and check before they travel for the latest journey information.”

Major projects on the north west, central and west coast mainline south routes between December 24 and 27, include:

- Work in and around Euston station in preparation for HS2

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- Work on overhead wire stanchions at Bletchley ahead of a new flyover being built across the West Coast main line to carry East West Rail between Oxford and Bedford

- Track being replaced in Tring and Crewe stations

- Railway drainage improvements between Preston and Lancaster

- Ballast, the stone foundation of the railway, being replaced in Wolverhampton

- Ongoing preparation work for the full resignalling of Birmingham New Street in 2022.

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While there are no trains on Christmas Day, some services do run on Boxing Day. Chiltern Railways will be running services between Marylebone and Oxford Parkway via Bicester Village.

Chiltern services will be impacted by work to replace track near Haddenham and Thame Parkway on December 29 and 30.

A bus replacement service will be in use and information can be found out at https://www.chilternrailways.co.uk/tickets-and-times/changes.

In the north west, track will also be replaced and a foot crossing renewed near Warrington between January 1 and 2.

Passengers whose journeys could be affected are being urged to plan ahead and check before they travel at www.nationalrail.co.uk or with their train operator.