Easter is one of the busiest times of the year when it comes to rail travel. However, it’s also prime time for engineering works, seeing as there won’t be quite so many commuters travelling. So, it’s worth planning ahead and knowing what to expect. Here’s our guide to the key Easter engineering works over this coming Bank Holiday.

What are the main Easter Engineering Works?

It’d be impossible to list all of the Easter engineering works projects, but let’s go through some of the key ones that are most likely to affect you if you’re making a trip over the Bank Holiday.

West Coast Mainline closures

This is probably the largest Easter engineering works project taking place in 2024. There won’t be any long-distance trains serving London Euston, which affects both London Northwestern Railway and Avanti West Coast. Here’s what you need to know:

• All trains from the north won’t go any further south than Milton Keynes Central. From here, there’s a bus up to every five minutes to and from Bedford
• From Bedford, you can take Thameslink and East Midlands Railway services to London St Pancras
• This will affect the entire Easter weekend (Friday to Monday)
• On Easter Sunday and Easter Monday, the line will also be closed between Preston and Crewe. If you need to travel to/from Wigan or Warrington, then you can use a replacement bus. Alternatively, some trains will be diverted between Preston and Crewe via Manchester
• If you need to get from London Euston to Watford Junction, then you can use London Overground services.

You can find more information on the National Rail website here.

London Liverpool Street to Witham

If you’re travelling from London to Chelmsford, Colchester, Clacton, Ipswich or Norwich, then you should be aware of these Easter engineering works. A section of the railway between Shenfield and Witham will be closed while work is completed on the new Beaulieu Park station.

• If you’re travelling to London from the North, you’ll need to take a train down to Witham. From there, you can take a bus to Billericay 
• Coming from London? Catch a Southend Victoria train to Billericay for a replacement bus service
• There’ll be an enhanced service (every 15 minutes) from London to Billericay and Southend to provide extra capacity
• You’ll also find shuttle buses to/from Ingatestone. Change at Chelmsford or Shenfield to catch one
• This will affect the entire Easter weekend (Friday to Monday).

You’ll find more information here.

Elizabeth Line closure

Over the entire Easter weekend (Friday to Monday) the ‘core’ section of the Elizabeth Line between London Paddington and Stratford/Abbey Wood will be closed. Here’s what will run instead:

• Eight trains per hour (four on Easter Sunday) London Liverpool Street (High Level) to Shenfield (not stopping at Whitechapel)
• Two trains per hour London Paddington to Reading
• Four trains per hour London Paddington to Heathrow Terminals 2&3 (then alternating between Terminal 4 and Terminal 5).

If you have a ticket that’s valid on the Elizabeth Line, you can use the London Underground or London Buses instead. More details are available here.

No trains in the Huddersfield area

As part of works to upgrade the TransPennine route between Leeds and Manchester, there’ll be Easter engineering works in the Huddersfield area. Here’s how it will affect services on Good Friday, Easter Saturday and Easter Monday:

• Newcastle to Liverpool and Saltburn to Manchester services will not stop at Huddersfield. They’ll stop at Brighouse instead, where you can transfer to replacement bus services
• Hull to Manchester services will terminate at Leeds
• All services from Scarborough will terminate at York
• A stopping train will run from Marsden to Manchester Piccadilly
• Bus services will operate on the following routes:
  • Mirfield – Deighton – Huddersfield
  • Marsden – Slaithwaite – Huddersfield
  • Halifax – Brighouse – Huddersfield
  • Manchester Piccadilly – Huddersfield
  • Manchester Airport – Stockport – Huddersfield.

On Easter Sunday, the service will be different. There will be no TransPennine Express service from the North East and Yorkshire to Manchester. You’ll need to use Northern services that run via Bradford Interchange:

• Newcastle to Liverpool Lime Street services will terminate at Leeds and then restart at Manchester Victoria
• Saltburn to Manchester services will terminate at Dewsbury 
• Hull to Manchester services will terminate at Dewsbury 
• All services from Scarborough will terminate at York
• A stopping train will run from Marsden to Manchester Piccadilly
• Bus services will operate on the following routes:
  • Leeds – Dewsbury – Huddersfield
  • Leeds – Huddersfield
  • Dewsbury – (all stations) – Huddersfield
  • Marsden – Slaithwaite – Huddersfield
  • Halifax – Brighouse – Huddersfield
  • Manchester Piccadilly – Huddersfield
  • Manchester Airport – Stockport – Huddersfield.

Northern services from Leeds to Manchester will be extremely busy. We’d recommend arriving at the station as early as possible in order to ensure that you get a seat on these trains.

Is there anything else I should know?

Looking to plan an Easter day trip over this Bank Holiday? Take a look at our guide for some inspiration. We’d also recommend checking the National Rail website for details of all of the planned work coming up at Easter.

We also don’t charge any fees. Ever. Change your mind? Weather not quite what you expected? Not a problem. If your ticket is refundable, you’ll get the whole lot back. If it isn’t, feel free to change it to another date. Just buy tickets for a new date, pop us an email with all the details and we’ll do the rest.

We’ve also introduced split tickets. They’re a great way to save a packet on your journey without having to do any extra legwork!

_{All information on this page was correct at 13:00 12/03/2024. All information is issued in good faith. They’re subject to change at any time and Railsmartr are not responsible for any loss or disappointment incurred as a result of the information provided.}