Virgin Trains: Spring bank holiday weekend improvement work at Rugby

· No Virgin Trains services to or from London Euston Saturday 24 to
Monday 26 May inclusive
· Reductions to services on Tuesday 27and Wednesday 28 May
· Route between Stoke-on-Trent and Macclesfield closed for nine days,
Saturday 24 May to Sunday 1 June inclusive


Extensive improvement works are taking place in the Rugby area over the Spring Bank Holiday weekend and into the following week. This is to allow Network Rail to complete another crucial phase of the project to streamline the complicated set of junctions north and south of Rugby and enlarge the station area itself for the new improved Virgin Trains timetable starting
this December. Trains will be unable to pass through the area whilst most of this work is going on.

As a result there will be no Virgin Trains services to and from London Euston from Saturday 24 May to Monday 26 May inclusive. On Tuesday 27 and 28 May there will be significant reductions to the normal weekday service to and from Euston.

The route between Stoke-on-Trent and Macclesfield will be closed for nine days from Saturday 24 May to Sunday 1 June with replacement coaches linking all stations in the area.


A day by day summary of the main alterations follows.

Friday 23 May

There will be a normal weekday service with some additional trains mainly on the London to Preston route.

Saturday 24 May to Monday 26 May

All Virgin Trains services from Scotland and the NorthWest will terminate and start back from either Birmingham International or Coventry.

Passengers travelling to and from London will need to use alternative rail routes as shown below:

· Glasgow/Edinburgh - London King's Cross (operated by National Express East Coast)
· Liverpool/Manchester - London St Pancras International (East Midlands Trains)
· Manchester - London Paddington (CrossCountry/First Great Western)
· Birmingham - London Marylebone (Chiltern Railways).

Services between the North Wales Coast and London Euston will run between Holyhead and Crewe only, in both directions. The line between Stoke-on-Trent and Macclesfield will be closed with replacement coaches running between Stoke-on-Trent and Stafford (late evenings, early mornings and all day Sunday only), Crewe, and Macclesfield and also between Macclesfield and Wilmslow. Services between Birmingham International and Manchester Piccadilly will be diverted via Crewe and Wilmslow.

Tuesday and Wednesday 27 and 28 May

The route is open into London Euston but with a reduced service, due to diversions via the West Midlands which will result in extended journey times. Trains from London Euston will depart earlier than the normal weekday times. Customers are advised, if possible to delay their journeys to the Thursday and Friday of that week, as services are likely to be very busy.

The line between Stoke-on-Trent and Macclesfield will be closed through to Sunday 1 June inclusive, with replacement coaches running between Stoke-on-Trent and Stafford (early mornings, late evenings and all day Sunday only); Crewe and Macclesfield; and between Macclesfield and Wilmslow. Services on the London Euston to Manchester route will be diverted via Crewe and Wilmslow.

Additional replacement coach services

From Saturday 24 May to Monday 26 March, London Midland will be operating coaches for local passengers between Coventry and Northampton in both directions including a call at Rugby.

From Saturday 24 May to Monday 26 May we will be operating the following coach services in both directions: between Rugby and Kettering connecting with East Midlands Trains to and from St Pancras International; between Milton Keynes Central and Birmingham International connecting with trains to and from the North; and between Watford Junction and High Wycombe connecting with Chiltern Railways services to and from Birmingham Moor Street.

On Tuesday 27 and Wednesday 28 May special coaches will run between Tamworth and Lichfield Trent Valley to Birmingham International and between Nuneaton and Coventry during peak periods only to assist commuters in their journeys to and from London Euston.

For further information passengers should contact National Rail Enquiries by visiting nationalrail.co.uk or calling 08457 48 49 50.

End


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