Major Upcoming Improvement Works: 2024 and beyond

Short term midweek blockades

We know there’s never a good time to close the railway and that any cancellation of the daytime Monday to Friday service is likely to cause considerable disruption. However, for some improvement projects, closing the line for a week (or a bit longer for big projects) will get the essential engineering work done much more quickly and efficiently.

If traditional weekend working was used for these projects, engineers would spend at least 50% of a weekend bringing materials and plant in and out of the work site, leaving limited time for actual improvement or repair work. There would be long term weekend and overnight line closures instead, causing significantly more inconvenience for passengers.

Below are some of the key upcoming midweek daytime engineering blockades (which may also include work on Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holidays) taking place over the next couple of months:

Replacing Castleton Bridge over M62 motorway between Manchester and Rochdale

• When is the work taking place? Friday 6 September to Monday 23 September

• What is the impact? The line will be closed between Manchester Victoria and Rochdale whilst the railway bridge over the M62 motorway at Castleton is replaced. Travel advice for Northern customers is available from our National Rail Engineering page

• Tell me more about the work taking place: Network Rail is investing more than £20m in replacing Castleton Bridge that takes trains over the M62 motorway in Castleton, near Rochdale. The railway closure is required to replace the 42 metre long, 2,000 tonne bridge. Engineers need to dismantle the old bridge and take it away on the M62. The new bridge materials will be delivered by road and built on site. More information is available from Network Rail.

Ryde Pier on Isle of Wight to close for vital maintenance

• When is the work taking place? Friday 6 September 2024 to May 2025

• What is the impact? The entire Island Line will close between Ryde Pier Head and Shanklin between Friday 6 September and Sunday 6 October for vital maintenance. Ryde Pier will then remain closed until May 2025 while life extension work continues. Rail replacement bus services will operate as required. More information is available from our National Rail Engineering page

• Tell me more about the work taking place: Network Rail engineers will be working to repair and preserve the historic Ryde Pier structure. The pier will close to trains on Friday 6 September and is expected to reopen in early May 2025, in time for the summer holiday season. Also, during the month-long full line closure, there will be track and bridge renewals between Ryde St Johns Road and Ryde Pier Head, renovations to a historic footbridge at Brading, signalling works at Ryde and bridge repairs in Sandown. More information is available from Network Rail.

Eskmeals Viaduct Upgrade between Whitehaven and Barrow-in-Furness

• When is the work taking place? Saturday 7 September to Sunday 22 September

• What is the impact? The line will be closed between Sellafield and Millom allowing work to take place to help future-proof the Eskmeals Viaduct. A replacement bus service will run between Whitehaven and Millom / Barrow-in-Furness. Travel advice for customers is available from our National Rail Engineering page

• Tell me more about the work taking place: Network Rail is continuing to improve the 18-span Eskmeals Viaduct across the River Esk estuary. This £4.5 million pound project to safeguard against climate change will see hardwood timber beams replaced with recyclable material which will double the life expectancy from 25 to 50 years, improving the structure of the track and making it more robust. This work will require the closure of the railway line between Whitehaven / Sellafield and Millom. There is a page containing project information on the Northern website.

Re-railing track between Castle Cary and Weymouth

• When is the work taking place? Monday 23 September to Sunday 29 September

• What is the impact? The line will be closed for the replacement of the track between Yeovil Pen Mill and Thornford. Buses will replace Great Western Railway services between Castle Cary and Weymouth. Travel advice for customers is available from our National Rail Engineering page

• Tell me more about the work taking place: Network Rail will be re-railing just under a mile of track between Yeovil Pen Mill and Thornford. The existing track is over 50 years old and prone to faults that can cause disruption and delays to services and passengers. The brand-new track will make for smoother, more comfortable and reliable journeys. Full information is available from Network Rail.

Ore tunnel improvement work between Hastings and Ashford International

• When is the work taking place? Saturday 19 October to Sunday 3 November

• What is the impact? Buses will be replacing trains between Hastings and Rye for the entire fortnight (some additional buses will run between Hastings and Ore on some of the affected days). Trains and buses will operate at different times, on different days, between Rye and Ashford International. More information is available from our National Rail Engineering page

• Tell me more about the work taking place: Major improvement work is taking place in the 1,402 yard (1,282 metre) long Ore tunnel. The work will improve the drainage, and repair the lining on the inside of the structure to prevent water seeping through. This will include concrete spraying of the lining of the tunnel, soil and rock nailing, repair of the brickwork and replacement of some of the track through the tunnel. More information is available on the Network Rail website.

Track re-railing and viaduct strengthening work between Brockenhurst and Lymington Pier

• When is the work taking place? Saturday 26 October to Sunday 3 November

• What is the impact? Buses will be replacing trains between Brockenhurst and Lymington Pier for 9 days. More information is available from our National Rail Engineering page.

• Tell me more about the work taking place: Network Rail will be re-railing three quarters of a mile of track between Brockenhurst and Lymington Pier. A sticky material will also be applied to the tracks, to help the wheels of the trains grip the tracks. Work will also begin to strengthen the viaduct which runs over the river between Lymington Town and Lymington Pier. More information is available on the Network Rail website.

All Planned Engineering Work

Details of all the planned engineering work (including other midweek work as well as at weekends and overnight) for approximately the next 12 weeks is available on our Status and Disruptions page. Use the calendar to search for the dates you want to travel.

Longer Term Projects

High Speed Two (HS2)

Once operational, HS2’s British-built bullet trains will provide zero-carbon journeys between the UK’s two largest cities, Birmingham and London, with services continuing on to Manchester, the North West and Scotland using the conventional railway network, cutting journey times.

Trains will run on the new lines at speeds of up to 225 mph. Each train will be 400 metres long and will carry up to 1,100 customers. There will be up to 14 trains per hour in each direction.

Twice the length of Crossrail, HS2 is the first new intercity railway to be built north of London in over a century. Construction of the line is well underway, with 30,000 jobs supported by the project and over 3,200 UK-based businesses helping to build it.

Comprising 140-miles of track, four new state-of-the art stations, two depots, 32 miles of tunnel, and 130 bridges, HS2 will leave a legacy of environmentally responsible travel, economic regeneration and technological innovation for generations to come.

The first HS2 services will run between Birmingham Curzon Street and Old Oak Common in London between 2029 and 2033.

More details on this project are available here.

East West Rail

The communities between Cambridge and Oxford currently suffer from a lack of east-west transport options, to link their vibrant communities, universities and businesses.​​​​​​​ East West Rail is a major infrastructure project which will deliver these much-needed connections. It will bring faster journey times and lower transport costs, easing pressure on local roads.

The East West Rail line already has its first part in place following construction work between Oxford and Bicester.

Further services will be introduced in three 'Connection Stages':

Connection Stage 1: Oxford to Bletchley and Milton Keynes. The final section of track connecting Bicester and Bletchley has been laid. The project began by rebuilding the Bletchley flyover back in 2021. Since then 66 kilometres of new track has been laid. The remaining work will take place later this year including the installation of signalling, testing and the construction of Winslow station. Passenger services are due to start from 2025.

Connection Stage 2: Oxford to Bedford. This will involve an upgrade of the existing line between Bletchley and Bedford.

Connection Stage 3: Oxford to Cambridge.  Early planning is underway for the final section between Bedford and Cambridge, which will cross the East Coast Main Line.

More details on this exciting rail development can be found on the East West Rail website.

South Wales Metro

Work has started on Metro, a modern integrated public transport which will transform travel in South Wales. Construction, engineering and infrastructure work is underway to upgrade the rail network so that it’s ready for Metro.

Work involves:

• electrifying around 170km of track

• upgrading all the stations and signalling in the Metro network

• building at least two new stations.

The railway lines to Aberdare, Coryton, Merthyr Tydfil, Rhymney and Treherbert are being upgraded. These lines are also known as the Core Valleys Lines and they’ll become an important part of the South Wales Metro.

Details of the disruption being caused by the transformation work can be found on the Transport for Wales website.

The majority of the work for the South Wales Metro is scheduled for completion in 2024.