Easter travel is going to be a headache, thanks to engineering works on the Tube and National Rail affecting Gatwick Express, London Midland, Southern, Southeastern and Virgin Trains
Thinking of travelling by Tube or train over the Easter break? You might have to think again. There is going to be plenty of engineering works disrupting swathes of the networks this weekend starting from Good Friday on 25th March to Easter Monday on the 28th March.
National Rail is planning "one of the biggest Easter investment programmes to date", which means by the end of it 450 projects will have been carried out, with £55m being spent just during the bank holiday break.
While that's great news for the future, it obviously does carry with it quite a few issues for those of us hoping to travel. Here are the main disruptions to services.
Abellio Greater Anglia / Stansted Express
Good Friday and Easter Monday: West Anglia, Mainline and Southend routes will all run a revised Saturday timetable.
Arriva Trains Wales
Saturday, Sunday and Monday there will be major engineering work in the Cardiff area
c2c
Easter Sunday and Monday – Trains to and from London Liverpool Street will be diverted to London Fenchurch Street and call additionally at both West Ham and Limehouse.
"Trains are expected to be exceptionally busy on Easter Monday, and there may be a queuing system in place at Barking, as West Ham United have a home fixture and London Underground services are not running."
Chiltern Railways
Good Friday, Easter Saturday, Sunday and Monday – No trains running between Marylebone and Amersham due to London Underground engineering work. An hourly train service between Aylesbury Vale Parkway and Amersham, with a connecting bus between Amersham and Beaconsfield, for onward trains to/from Marylebone.
CrossCountry
Throughout the weekend trains are diverted between Birmingham New Street and Stafford and will not call at Wolverhampton. Trains are diverted between Stoke-on-Trent and Stafford extending journey times by up to 30 minutes.
On Saturday and Sunday trains between Cardiff Central and Brighton / Portsmouth & Southsea will be diverted and will not call at Southampton Central.
Gatwick Express
There will be no service from Good Friday up to and including Easter Monday as there is engineering work taking place between London Victoria and Clapham Junction. These works mean London Victoria will be closed to Gatwick Express and Southern services. Passengers are advised to travel to London Bridge to use alternative Southern services or London Blackfriars to use Thameslink services. Overnight trains are replaced by buses between London Victoria and Gatwick Airport.
Great Northern
A revised service is in operation with fewer trains on some routes throughout the weekend.
Great Western Railway
Engineering works on some lines throughout the weekend. Additional services will operate between London Paddington and the West of England, and also from Swansea to London Paddington.
Hull Trains
Saturday and Sunday – A reduced service will be in place with extended journey times due to engineering work taking place between Peterborough and London Kings Cross.
London Midland
Major disruption throughout the weekend, including Liverpool Lime Street and Birmingham New Street will run between Liverpool Lime Street and Crewe only, and with a reduced service. Buses are replacing trains between Crewe and Stafford. A special two-hourly train service will run between Stafford and Wolverhampton.
Train services between Shrewsbury and Birmingham New Street will run between Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton only – to a special timetable based on Saturday service frequency. Some services are extended to run additionally between Wolverhampton and Stafford. Buses are replacing trains between Wolverhampton and Birmingham New Street.
An amended service is running between Crewe and Northampton / London Euston and trains will not call at Stone and Stafford. Rail replacement buses will operate between Stoke-on-Trent and Stafford.
Services on the following routes will operate to a special timetable at a reduced level of frequency:
Lichfield Trent Valley – Redditch (via Birmingham New Street), Birmingham New Street – Walsall / Rugeley Trent Valley, London Euston – Tring / Milton Keynes Central / Northampton, Birmingham New Street – Birmingham International / Coventry / Northampton / London Euston, Birmingham New Street – Worcester / Hereford while services between Bletchley and Bedford will not run.
London Overground
Disruption to services throughout the weekend including buses replacing trains between Camden Road and Stratford, between Highbury & Islington and Shadwell, no trains between Sydenham and Crystal Palace and an amended service in place on most other routes
Southern
There will be no Southern service to and from London Victoria from Good Friday up to and including Easter Monday as there is engineering work taking place between London Victoria and Clapham Junction. Buses are also replacing trains between Horsham and Arundel. More details are available on the future engineering work pages.
Southeastern
From Good Friday to Easter Monday inclusive, there will be an amended service based on the Saturday timetable on Good Friday, Saturday, and Easter Monday. On Easter Sunday an amended service based on the Sunday timetable is in operation
No trains will run between Gravesend / Swanley and Faversham, Strood and Maidstone West, and Sheerness-on-Sea and Sittingbourne and there will be no trains between Plumstead and Dartford
Buses will replace trains between Dover Priory and Folkestone Central / West during the ongoing repairs to the sea wall near Dover.
Between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, London Bridge station will be closed to Southeastern services and there will be no trains serving London Cannon Street, Deptford, Greenwich, Maze Hill, and Westcombe Park
Thameslink
A reduced service will be in operation on Good Friday and Easter Monday with fewer trains on some routes. On Easter Sunday, a normal service will run, with a few minor alterations.
Virgin Trains
Disruption includes a reduced service between London to Birmingham New Street between Good Friday and Easter Monday, the London to North Wales services will operate between Crewe/Chester and Holyhead, and reduced services between London and Manchester Piccadilly.
Buses replace trains between Stafford and Crewe / Stoke-on-Trent, and between Birmingham New Street and Sandwell & Dudley / Wolverhampton.
Virgin Trains East Coast
Reduced services between London Kings Cross and Leeds, with some London Kings Cross to Newcastle services extending to start / terminate at Edinburgh, and from Saturday major engineering work between Huntingdon and Peterborough will add 60 minutes to journeys between Huntingdon/Peterborough and Kings Cross.
On Easter Monday, an hourly service will run between London Kings Cross and Leeds, with some London Kings Cross to Newcastle services extending to start / terminate at Edinburgh
Closures on the Tube include
- The District line between Aldgate East and Dagenham East
- The Hammersmith & City line between Liverpool Street and Barking
- The Metropolitan line between Moor Park, Amersham and Chesham
- Overground services between Camden Road and Stratford, Sydenham and Crystal Palace, Romford and Upminster, Highbury & Islington and Shadwell, Gospel Oak to Barking, as well as between Highbury & Islington and Clapham Junction and New Cross Gate
- TfL Rail
- Tram services between Reeves Corner and East Croydon
There will be some bus replacement services running, and TfL has a list of the available services here.
Here's what that looks like
