Major Rail Upgrades in North West England Scheduled for Christmas Season

Railway engineering work means changes to train travel between Christmas and New Year.

Between 24 December 2024 and 2 January 2025, railway workers will carry out major railway upgrades across the North West of England.

Passengers planning to travel by train between Christmas and New Year are urged to check their journeys in advance, as there are changes to the timetables while the work takes place.

Work includes:

The final stages of a major upgrade for freight services in Crewe.
Signalling upgrades and track replacement in Manchester and Liverpool.
Essential track maintenance between Leyland, Preston and Carlisle.
Energising the line between Wigan and Bolton as part of the electrification project.
Building a temporary scaffold bridge to divert utility services ahead of the Greek Street bridge replacement next year.
Phil James, Network Rail’s North West route director, said: “The railway work over Christmas is essential to improve services for passengers in the New Year and beyond.

“I’d urge anyone planning to travel by train in the North West during the festive period to check before they travel on the National Rail website or with their train operator.

“I’m grateful to everyone for their patience while this work takes place, and to our railway teams out on site over Christmas to improve services for passengers and freight.”
Passengers travelling between the North and London are advised that Euston station is expected to be extremely busy.

Christmas rail work, affecting journeys into London Paddington and London St Pancras stations, mean more passengers are expected to travel through London Euston over the festive period.

For a smoother journey, passengers travelling to or from Euston on the West Coast Main Line, are advised to travel before Tuesday 24 December or after Thursday 2 January.