£31m Easter rail upgrades complete between London and Scotland

Network Rail has completed a range of essential upgrades to the railway between Euston, the Midlands, North West and Scotland over Easter.

Between Friday 2nd and Tuesday 6th April, teams carried out vital work on the railway to improve passenger and freight services on the West Coast main line – the Backbone of Britain.

The £31m investment across the whole of Network Rail's North West and Central region as part of Britain’s Railway Upgrade Plan saw:

• ongoing work to upgrade Birmingham New Street station's signals – the complex system and traffic lights of the railway which keep trains running safely
• two new bridges installed at Warrington Bank Quay station
• two underpasses driven underneath the Chiltern main line in Bicester
• work to prepare Euston station for Britain’s new high-speed railway, HS2

Tim Shoveller, managing director for Network Rail’s North West & Central region, said: “Hundreds of frontline staff worked throughout the bank holiday to improve journeys for passengers and freight in the North West and Central region and I’m immensely proud of them and our contractors who helped Network Rail deliver these major upgrades. This is just the start of 2021’s work to make the West Coast main line more reliable for our passengers and pave the way for HS2, which will bring much-needed extra railway capacity as the country builds back better from the pandemic. Now our attention turns to the early May bank holiday when more essential railway improvements will take place. Because of the amount of work being done, passengers are being urged to travel either side of the bank holiday on Friday 30 April and Tuesday 4 May.”

About CILT

The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) in the chartered body for professionals involved in the movement of goods and people and their associated supply chains. We bring together the five distinct communities of Logistics & Freight Movement, People Mobility, Planning in Transport, Operations and Supply Chain Management and Sustainability & the Global Community and provide specialist activities and multi-sector engagement through their associated forums and policy groups.