August bank holiday 2022: Network Rail reassures passengers that ‘vast majority’ of train services will go ahead as normal this bank holiday weekend

Network Rail will be delivering £90 million worth of upgrades to the railway this August bank holiday.

The train company is reminding passengers that the vast majority (95 per cent) of the rail network will be running as usual this weekend, including bank holiday Monday, which will allow travellers to go on holiday, attend social events or visit family and friends.

Some of the upgrade works, which is worth a cool £90 million, are underway, which means that some routes will be affected, so passengers will need to check before they travel.

Upgrading the railway to improve future passenger journeys remains very important, and bank holidays are often the most productive time to carry out these works. However, with leisure travel having recovered strongly since the pandemic, Network Rail is keen to minimise disruption to trains for leisure travellers as far as possible when delivering upgrades.

Chief executive at Network Rail, Andrew Haines, said: “I’m pleased to say the vast majority of the railway will be open for business as usual this bank holiday, so passengers can rely on us to get them where they need to go as they make the most of their summers.

“Our teams will be delivering some upgrade works to improve future journeys for passengers, so we’re asking people to check before they travel and make sure their route isn’t affected.”

The major upgrade projects to be carried out over the August bank holiday weekend include:

- HS2 piling works at London Euston to enable the delivery of the new high-speed railway. An amended, reduced timetable will run between Northampton/Milton Keynes and London Euston.

- Rebuilding busy junctions to improve reliability at Charing Cross and New Cross, which means changes to Southeastern services in south east London and Kent. There will be no trains to Charing Cross or Cannon Street on Saturday, August 27 and Sunday, August 28 with a limited service from Hastings/Tonbridge to London Bridge on both days. London Bridge and Cannon Street will fully reopen on Monday, with only Charing Cross still closed to trains.

- Resignalling works from Hounslow to Virginia Water to improve the reliability of the railway. As a consequence, London Waterloo to Reading services will be amended and diverted between Clapham Junction and Virginia Water.

- Digital railway resignalling works at Welwyn Garden City to improve reliability. No Great Northern or Thameslink trains will run between Finsbury Park and Stevenage via Welwyn Garden City on August 28, and Grand Central trains will be diverted with extended journey times.