‘Travel Either Side’ Advice for West Coast Main Line Passengers this Christmas

Euston-148 image courtesy of Network Rail

Passengers travelling over the festive period are strongly urged to plan their journeys in advance as major rail upgrades mean Euston station is expected to be much busier than usual from Christmas Eve, into the New Year.

Christmas rail works 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.

  • Improvements on the Great Western Main Line in preparation for HS2’s new Old Oak Common station near London Paddington, will mean some GWR services are diverted into Euston between Friday 27 December and Sunday 29 December.*
  • During upgrades on the Midland Main Line between Saturday 21 December and Sunday 29 December, EMR passengers will be able to connect to services to and from London Euston at Milton Keynes via bus replacement services to Bedford.**

To keep passengers moving over Christmas, most engineering work on the West Coast Main Line will take place during the traditional railway closure from the end of service on Christmas Eve until the morning of Friday 27 December, when the railway reopens. However, carefully planned upgrades to help improve the reliability of journeys into London Euston will take place between Monday 23 December and Saturday 4 January:

  • Track drainage improvements near Milton Keynes – buses will replace all trains between Milton Keynes, Northampton, and Rugby on New Year’s Day, Wednesday 1 January.
  • Track upgrades between Watford and Milton Keynes – an amended service will be in place from Wednesday 1 January to Saturday 4 January.

Gary Walsh, director for Network Rail’s West Coast South route, said: ‘We understand that travelling over the festive period is important for so many people and we want to make sure everyone reaches their destination as smoothly as possible.

‘On top of upgrades which will help to make the West Coast Main Line more reliable for our passengers, we’ve got major engineering work affecting other routes into London this year, which means Euston will be extremely busy. I’m urging passengers to plan their journeys in advance at www.nationalrail.co.uk and for a more comfortable journey, please consider travelling before Christmas Eve or after Thursday 2 January.’

Timetables for train services over the Christmas period are now available and passengers are encouraged to check the latest travel information via National Rail Enquiries or their train operator’s website.

During the busy festive period, passengers needing assistance at London Euston station are encouraged to book Passenger Assist in advance of their travel through their train operator, or via National Rail Enquiries at 0800 0223720 or by text to 60083.

Network Rail is working closely with its train operating partners at London Euston in preparation for additional trains and passengers this Christmas. As part of Network Rail’s five-point plan, both Avanti West Coast and London Northwestern Railway passengers are now benefiting from earlier boarding trials across many services in an effort to improve passengers’ experience at the station.

For more information about travelling to and from London Euston station this Christmas, passengers should visit www.networkrail.co.uk/wcml.

*Between Friday 27 December and Sunday 29 December, some GWR services will be diverted to/from London Euston, although the majority of trains will start/stop at Reading and Ealing Broadway. Passengers for London will be able to change at Ealing Broadway and take a Transport for London service into the city, using either the District or Central lines.

**Between Saturday 21 December and Sunday 29 December, passengers who usually travel to and from London St Pancras will need to use different London stations and use connecting buses to reach their destinations. EMR passengers can take West Coast Main Line services from London Euston to Milton Keynes to catch buses to Bedford where they will join their EMR train.