Christmas this week brings more than just turkey and tinsel for the UK rail network. Network Rail is deploying thousands of workers across the country for a series of major engineering projects. While passenger services will be reduced or suspended on some routes, freight continues to operate, keeping vital flows of goods moving over the holiday period.
More than 160 million pounds (190 million euros) will be invested during the shutdowns as crews replace ageing track and bridges, install modern signalling, and refurbish stations. Network Rail says these works will reduce faults, improve reliability and safety, and make the railway fit for the long term. Passengers are the emphasis, but works will help maintain essential freight connections across the country.
Thousands of rail colleagues on the network
Services will be particularly busy in the run-up to Christmas, but many passenger routes will close early on Christmas Eve. National Rail services stop entirely on Christmas Day, while only a handful of passenger services run on Boxing Day. Despite this, freight trains continue to move, keeping key supply chains open, including flows to and from ports, distribution centres, and industrial sites.
Anit Chandarana, System Operator Group Director at Network Rail, said the industry had worked closely with train operators to organise diversions and replacement services where possible. Daniel Mann, Director of Industry Operations at Rail Delivery Group, reminded travellers and freight customers to allow extra time and be considerate of colleagues working on the network.
West Highland freight and Transpennine upgrades
Scotland sees major engineering works, including the installation of a new bridge at Bowling in West Dunbartonshire, near Glasgow, from 24 December to 2 January. The route carries a busy commuter service, and also less frequent services into the rural and isolated West Highlands. The line remains important for freight, continuing to serve the aluminium works at Fort William and offering potential for timber and other bulk flows. Sidings at locations such as Crianlarich can support freight operations even while passenger services are suspended.
On the national freight network, the multi-billion-pound Transpennine Route Upgrade continues around Church Fenton, Yorkshire. Works include signalling, track, and power supply improvements, and the route will be closed to passenger trains between Leeds and York until 3 January. Freight, however, continues to benefit from the upgrades, with the corridor serving as a vital connection between East and West Coast ports, linking the North Sea container and bulk terminals with Liverpool, Manchester, and the Midlands.
Bridging the gap on Europe’s busiest mixed-traffic route
The West Coast Main Line, the busiest mixed-traffic railway in Europe, faces some of the most disruptive projects. From Christmas Day until 4 January, a junction replacement at Hanslope shuts the line between Milton Keynes and Rugby. That will affect both passenger and freight movements. Further north, a 1960s bridge replacement over the M6 motorway between Preston and Carlisle from 31 December to 15 January will again impact flows on this key Anglo-Scottish artery. Diversions and temporary restrictions will be in place for both rail and road. Additional signalling work at Kingmoor, just north of Carlisle, from 1 to 7 January will further constrain services.
Network Rail stresses that the concentration of works over the festive period allows major upgrades to be delivered when passenger volumes are lower. Freight operators, meanwhile, continue to run services wherever possible, keeping essential goods moving despite the scale of the engineering programme.