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Rail passengers travelling between London and Scotland face nine weekends of cancellations, with engineering works planned from later this month.
Network Rail signalling upgrades and track improvements will close the West Coast Main Line on several dates, including Easter weekend and the first May Bank Holiday.
The rail company said in a statement: “Teams will be carrying out track renewal, drainage improvement and infrastructure maintenance works at locations between Carstairs and the border.”
Work includes renewing and refurbishing tracks at Abington, Thankerton and Symington and drainage improvement works at Elvanfoot.
Avanti West Coast trains will not run north of Carlisle, with rail replacement buses for travellers bound for Glasgow and Edinburgh from London Euston.
The engineering works will affect passengers for 14 days between 29 March and 9 June.
Dates include:
- Sunday 30 March
- Sunday 6 April
- Sunday 13 April
- Easter Weekend (Saturday 19 April to Monday 21 April)
- Sunday 27 April
- May Bank Holiday (Saturday 3 May to Sunday 4 May)
- Saturday 10 May and Sunday 11 May
- Saturday 31 May and Sunday 1 June
- Sunday 8 June
To reach the Scottish capital, rail passengers will have to use LNER or Lumo services out of London King’s Cross to Edinburgh.
Ross Moran, Network Rail Scotland route director, said: “Our engineers will be working hard to deliver these improvement projects as quickly as possible for our customers.
“The work we’re undertaking is vital to the long-term future of the line and will help to provide a more reliable railway for our passengers and freight customers.
“The complexity of the engineering work being completed means it can only be done by closing the line, and we are urging passengers planning to travel on the West Coast Mainline over this period to check their journey in advance.”
The TransPennine Express will operate an amended timetable for its services between Liverpool and Manchester to Glasgow and Edinburgh via Preston and Carlisle.
Chris Liptrot, operations director at Avanti West Coast, said: “During this time, there’ll be no direct trains to or from Glasgow and Edinburgh, and as a result, we’ll be operating a reduced timetable north of Carlisle. Rail replacement services will also be in place.
“We would like to thank our customers for their patience and strongly advise they plan their journey, as well as check the Avanti West Coast website for the latest updates before travelling.”
This is not the only bout of disruption ahead for the train line.
From 2026 onwards, rail passengers on much of the northern part of the West Coast main line face several years of disruption due to a Network Rail project named “Trilink”. The aims are to increase capacity for more passenger and freight trains and to accelerate journeys.
Instead of just the usual weekend and bank holiday closures, the line connecting London Euston with northwest England and southern Scotland will be repeatedly shut for two weeks. The provisional start date for the first fortnight’s “blockade” is 1 January 2026.
For more travel news and advice, listen to Simon Calder’s podcast
