Rail misery on three key train lines over the August bank holiday weekend

Three key intercity rail lines will be interrupted over the August bank holiday weekend for Network Rail engineering projects.

Journeys on the East Coast Main Line from the capital to Yorkshire, the North East of England and Scotland will be slower and more complicated from Saturday evening, 24 August, to Monday morning, 26 August.

Work between London and Peterborough means the last northbound train from King’s Cross in the capital on Saturday will be the 9pm to Newcastle. The London terminus will then close for 35 hours to intercity passengers until 8am on bank holiday Monday.

On Sunday a reduced service will run south as far as St Neots in Cambridgeshire, from where rail-replacement buses will operate to and from Bedford. Thameslink trains from here run frequently to London St Pancras, adjacent to King’s Cross.

The main operator on the line, LNER, says: “We have sourced frequent rail-replacement coaches to provide a comfortable journey during the bank holiday.”

The East Coast Main Line closure will affect many people heading south from the Edinburgh Festival.

Long-distance passengers hoping to switch to the West Coast Main Line instead will encounter longer journeys and some cancellations due to other Network Rail projects.

Fewer trains will run from Manchester and Birmingham to London Euston because of work at various points on the line – notably between the terminus in the capital and Wembley, and on the route through Stoke-on-Trent. The Manchester-London service will be cut from three to two per hour, with journeys extended by 10 minutes or more.

Avanti West Coast says: “There will be a reduced timetable on some of our routes throughout the whole bank holiday weekend.

“This, combined with the many great events happening across the network [such as the Notting Hill Carnival in London and Manchester Pride], may mean that our trains are busier than usual this bank holiday weekend.”

Journeys on the Great Western route between south Wales and London will take much longer than usual due to the closure of the line between Bristol Parkway and Severn Tunnel Junction on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 August. Trains will be diverted via Gloucester.

The usual two-per-hour service from Cardiff to London Paddington, taking as little as 1h50m, will be cut to once hourly, and the journey extended by almost an hour.

Network Rail says: “We plan works for certain times so they cause the least disruption to passengers, such as on bank holidays, Sundays and overnight – when the network is less busy.”

The line between Axminster and Exeter in Devon is blocked at Honiton tunnel because of a landslip and will remain closed until noon on Sunday at the earliest.

In northwest England, Northern Trains is warning passengers not to travel on Sunday on six routes, including Liverpool to Blackpool North and from Manchester Victoria to Southport, Blackburn via Todmorden and Chester.

The state-run rail firm says widespread cancellations are “due to train crew being unavailable”, adding: “The Cumbrian coast line between Lancaster and Carlisle is also expected to see a reduced service with short notice cancellations expected.”

Normally services nationwide are restored in early September, but on the link between Manchester and Rochdale there will be no trains from 6 to 24 September inclusive as a rail bridge over the M62 motorway is rebuilt.

Northern Rail is telling passengers: “Network Rail is investing more than £20m in rebuilding a major railway bridge that takes trains over the M62 at Castleton, near Rochdale.” The weekends within this spell will see more widespread disruption.

On the Isle of Wight, the entire line from Ryde Pier to Shanklin will close for a month from 6 September. Ryde Pier itself will not reopen until May 2025.