Britain has many Easter traditions. Pious religious observance; a less pious sharing of chocolate Easter Eggs; a frantic football fixture list; and a huge programme of railway engineering works. This Easter weekend features all four. No prizes for guessing which Easter Element catches our attention.
Rail freight operations will be wound down over the Easter break. That, however, does not mean rail freight operators are having a long weekend, kicking back and eating too much chocolate. Far from it. The Easter Weekend is the busiest time for rail engineering outside the protracted Christmas shutdown.
300 upgrades – not all listed here
While the UK infrastructure agency has issued its perennial reminder to passengers to check before travelling ahead of the Easter engineering programme. Network Rail has already agreed a course of action with rail freight operators. They’ll be helping to deliver an £86m (€102m) investment programme consisting of more than 300 upgrade projects across the country.
“The vast majority of the rail network will be open as usual,” said Helen Hamlin, Network Rail’s director of system operations. “For people wanting to travel over the Easter Bank Holiday, there will be changes to services in some areas. So we’re asking passengers to plan ahead and check before they travel.”
Plan ahead – it’s what freight always does
Freight operations are not as heavily affected as passenger services. While there have been significant movements in passenger travel patterns since the pandemic, freight is an aspect of rail operations that has remained broadly unchanged. The greater emphasis on leisure passenger travel has made the railway busier at weekends in a way not seen for several decades.
That has meant the shift of engineering works in the same period, towards more weekend track possessions, has impacted more on occasional rail passengers, possibly giving a skewed impression of railway reliability. This has in turn contributed to a reduction in passenger numbers at holiday periods, like this weekend.
West Coast Main Line engineering works
“We carry out a large amount of our work over the Easter period,” explained Helen Hamlin. “Passenger numbers are lower than they typically would be, disrupting fewer journeys. The two bank holidays on either side of the weekend give us a unique opportunity to get more work done whilst keeping disruption to a minimum.”
Among the major projects scheduled for this weekend are some that involve the West Coast Main Line, Europe’s busiest mixed-traffic route. Renewals of overhead lines, switches, crossings and drainage work is all scheduled between London Euston and Milton Keynes Central – the southernmost 50 miles (80km) of the Anglo-Scottish route. Track renewals are also scheduled for the Carlisle area, particularly north of the city, towards the Scottish border.
Freight benefits too
Engineering trains will also be occupying tracks between London Victoria and Battersea, supporting track renewals, re-signalling, maintenance and structures work at Battersea. There are a host of passenger diversions, including disruption to the dedicated Gatwick Express airport services, and for those taking their seaside break on British beaches, there will also be a reduced service to Brighton.
Although freight has planned to work around the Easter break, the sector will benefit from the busy weekend of engineering. For example, an extensive program of works around Fareham will improve all services around Portsmouth and Southampton – the latter being one of the UK’s busiest port-serving rail freight terminals.
Yes, Minister
Meanwhile, “Transport”, the same government department that will soon be running the railways, has gleefully announced that thousands of miles of roadworks will be lifted ahead of Easter – to make life easier for drivers. That doesn’t seem like a clear message in support of the government’s rush towards a more sustainable net-zero economy. Actually, the Department for Transport is already running a large swathe of the railway, as Operator of Last Resort – the rather sinister designation for taking over from failed private operators.
Good to see that ‘joined up government’ is alive and well in their Horseferry Road HQ – where there are no roadworks over the Easter break. Then again, the Department will be closed over Easter. It’s not known if ministers and civil servants are taking a break on the beach at Brighton. It is only a short walk to Victoria Station, after all. Be sure to check beforehand with National Rail Enquiries.