Major Upcoming Improvement Works: 2024 and beyond

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.

Gatwick Airport station improvements​​​​​​​

A new look Gatwick Airport station has opened to passengers.

The journey from train to plane has been transformed at Gatwick Airport, with a new look station opening to passengers and giving those travelling between Brighton and London easier, faster, more reliable journeys.

A bigger, better and brighter station with a new second concourse and airport entrance has doubled the space for the millions of passengers that will use the station each year. Eight new escalators and five new lifts also provide a step change for accessibility.

The station upgrade has:

• Doubled the size of the station concourse through the construction of a new concourse above platforms 5, 6 and 7, the refit of the existing station concourse and the construction of a new separate staff building to create more space for customers

• Improved customer access for wheelchair users and those with luggage by building five new lifts.

• Improved general access by installing eight new escalators, four new stairways and improved wayfinding throughout the station buildings

• Reduced platform overcrowding and reduced train delays across the network by widening platforms 5 and 6. This has made it much faster for passengers to get on and off trains.

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.

Planned engineering work

Details of all the planned engineering work for approximately the next 12 weeks is available on our Status and Disruptions page by using the calendar to search for the dates you want to travel.