Rail ready for Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations

Rail Routes between London, Midlands and the North West are ready to go for the Jubilee weekend.

The news comes after Network Rail engineers made the most of bank holidays earlier on in the year to carry out £41m of essential work to build a more efficient railway as part of Britain’s Rail Recovery.

This included major upgrades to tracks in Wembley and Watford to provide more reliable passenger and freight journeys.

When the Queen’s landmark celebrations begin on Thursday 2 June it means passengers can rely on rail to travel to the capital on the West Coast and Chiltern main lines.

With many thousands of people expected to join in with the landmark celebrations, people are reminded to plan their journeys in advance at www.nationalrail.co.uk.

Tim Shoveller, Network Rail’s North West and Central region managing director, said: “We are really pleased to say that both main lines into London Euston and Marylebone stations will be open across the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend after we planned ahead and carried out our major engineering work earlier on in the year.

“We know that demand will be high as people travel into the capital to celebrate this special occasion and our station staff will be on hand to welcome passengers and help them with their journeys. As always our advice is to plan your journey using National Rail Enquiries.”

Passengers are being advised there will be changes to journeys across the Pennines between Manchester and Leeds between 2-5 June.

Signals – the traffic lights of the railway – are being upgraded as part of the ongoing Transpennine Route Upgrade.

There will be some rail replacement bus services in operation between Manchester, Stalybridge, Rochdale and Salford Central.

Meanwhile Network Rail Southern region’s major stations in London have been joining in the fun with street parties and more.

London Waterloo and London Bridge hosted street parties this week, with Victoria and Charing Cross joining in with Corgi statures, photo-walls and more. More fun is expected at stations over the bank holiday, which is anticipated to be one of the busiest in years.

Network Rail Southern region stations director Lucy McAuliffe said: “We’re absolutely thrilled with how many people have been joining us at our Jubilee street parties. Our stations are places where people come to spend time, meet friends, eat, drink and of course catch trains, and we’re so proud to see our spaces bringing our community together in such a fun way and on such a special anniversary.

“It’s shaping up to be the busiest Bank Holiday for us in years and we’re really looking forward to welcoming more people through our doors. We’re also encouraging people to check the times of their last trains home.”

Train operators and Network Rail are urging people travelling for the Jubilee celebrations to make sure they plan their journeys ahead, as timetables will be different to normal weekdays. Crucially, people are urged to make sure they know what time their last trains home from London are, as they will also be different.

Photo credit: Network Rail

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