Euston station closed over Easter weekend - details

Start date

19/04/2019  00:00

End date

22/04/2019 

Route affected

Caledonian Sleeper between London Euston and Edinburgh / Glasgow Central / Aberdeen / Inverness / Fort William
London Northwestern Railway between London Euston and Northampton / Birmingham New Street / Crewe
London Overground between London Euston and Watford Junction
Southern between East Croydon and Milton Keynes Central
Virgin Trains between London Euston and Birmingham New Street / Chester / Holyhead / Manchester Piccadilly / Liverpool Lime Street / Glasgow Central / Edinburgh
 

TOC(s) affected

Caledonian Sleeper; London Northwestern Railway; London Overground; Southern; Virgin Trains; 

Description

Major engineering work is affecting journeys to and from London Euston on the West Coast main line, and London Euston station is closed.
Travel either side of the Easter and Early May bank holiday, plan ahead for easier journeys and check the best days to travel:

• Up to Thursday 18 April
• From Tuesday 23 April up to Friday 3 May
• From Tuesday 7 May

Caledonian Sleeper:
Caledonian Sleeper services will be diverted away from the usual route along the West Coast Mainline onto the East Coast Mainline and will be starting and terminating at London Kings Cross. Trains will not be calling at Watford Junction, Crewe, Preston and Carlisle in both directions.
On Friday. the Glasgow Sleepers will be diverted and will not call at Carstairs and Motherwell, with the sleeper from Glasgow towards London on Sunday doing the same.

London Northwestern Railway:
Friday 19 April
Trains between London Euston and Tring / Milton Keynes Central / Northampton / Birmingham New Street will not run. Trains between London Euston and Crewe will run between Northampton and Crewe only.
A half-hourly train service will operate between Harrow & Wealdstone and Rugby for the majority of the day.
Some late night / early morning services will run between Hemel Hempstead and Milton Keynes Central / Northampton only, with buses running between Stanmore London Underground station and Hemel Hempstead / Watford Junction, to allow customers to connect with London Underground services from / to London.
Customers may use London Underground on reasonable routes between London and Harrow & Wealdstone.
Saturday 20 April
Trains between London Euston and Tring / Milton Keynes Central / Northampton / Birmingham New Street will not run. Trains between London Euston and Crewe will run between Northampton and Crewe only.
A half hourly train service will run between Bletchley and Rugby.
Replacement buses will run between Stanmore London Underground station and Watford Junction / Milton Keynes Central, to allow customers to connect with London Underground services to / from London. These replacement buses will not call at Cheddington between 07:30 and 22:30, when replacement buses will run between Cheddington and Leighton Buzzard.
Sunday 21 April
Trains between London Euston and Tring / Milton Keynes Central / Northampton / Birmingham New Street will not run. Trains between London Euston and Crewe will run between Northampton and Crewe only.
Rail replacement buses will run between Rugby and Birmingham International. A train service will also run approximately every half hour between Bletchley and Northampton / Rugby.
Replacement buses will run between Stanmore London Underground station and Watford Junction / Milton Keynes Central, to allow customers to connect with London Underground services to / from London. These replacement buses will not call at Cheddington between 08:00 and 22:00, when replacement buses will run between Cheddington and Leighton Buzzard.
Monday 22 April
Trains between London Euston and Tring / Milton Keynes Central / Northampton will not run. Trains between London Euston and Birmingham New Street / Crewe will run between Northampton and Birmingham New Street / Crewe only.
A half hourly train service will run between Harrow & Wealdstone and Northampton.
Customers may use London Underground on reasonable routes between London and Harrow & Wealdstone.

London Overground:
On Friday and Monday, trains will run to amended timings with three trains per hour between Kilburn High Road and Watford Junction.
On Saturday and Sunday, trains will run to a normal timetable between Kilburn High Road and Watford Junction.
On all days, customers should use London Underground Bakerloo Line services to / from Queens Park and central London.

Southern
As a result of this engineering work, Southern trains will not run between Clapham Junction and Milton Keynes Central.
Customers may use tickets on London Overground trains between Willesden Junction and Watford Junction and on London Northwestern Railway trains and replacement buses between Watford Junction and Milton Keynes Central.

Virgin Trains:
Friday 19 April and Monday 22 April
Virgin Trains services will start / terminate at Harrow & Wealdstone. Your ticket will include free travel on London Underground Bakerloo Line services between Harrow & Wealdstone and London Paddington. If you require onward travel beyond London Paddington on London Underground, please purchase your London Underground travel ticket before you travel, or at London Paddington.
Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 April
Trains will start / terminate at Milton Keynes Central, and will not run between London Euston and Milton Keynes Central. Customers travelling into, and out from central London can use the Journey Planner to obtain alternative routes.

Check before you travel:
You can plan your journey using the National Rail Enquiries Journey Planner
You can find the location of your bus replacement by checking station signs or by searching for your station on our station information pages
Replacement Bus Travel Advice:
Bicycles are not allowed on rail replacement bus services at any time, unless fully folded. More travel advice for your replacement bus journey is available by selecting the Train Operating Company you are travelling with here.
 

Labour decision to back HS2 will anger local campaigners

The Independent, which sadly  publishes its last Sunday edition today, reports that Jeremby Corbyn and John McDonnell, despite earlier opposition, will whip Labour MPs to support the HS2 Bill when it goes to the House of Commons on Tuesday LINK

The newspaper reports that Sir Keir Starmer,  Labour MP for Holborn and St Pancras, a fierce opponent of HS2, may be persuaded to support the Bill via a Labour amendment that would protect social housing around Euston and mitigate construction disruption. Starmer was opposed at the General Election by Green Party leader Natalie Bennett. The Greens oppose HS2.

In the  South Kilburn Estate opposition arose when Brent Council who are in favour of HS2,  persuaded HS2 to move a vent shaft to a site right next to St Mary's Primary School on the Estate. LINK 

Pete Firmin gave evidence on behalf of South Kilburn residents to the Select Committee. LINK

Kensal Triangle Residents Association have been vehemently against the project.

Corbyn raised issues around HS2 and its impact on other necessary rail projects as recently as last October LINK  leading to this comment from the Stop HS2 Camapign:

Stop HS2 Campaign Manager Joe Rukin responded:

“It is a breath of fresh air to have a party leader who is actually trying to assess what the real-world implications of HS2 would be, opposed to simply swallowing the spin put forward by proponents. It has been clear since the outset that spending such a vast amount of money on HS2 would only mean other, more deserving projects will be squeezed out, and even the Department for Transport have admitted that HS2 could suck up all the rail investment money.” 

“Following the on-off and now delayed status of some rail upgrades, there is still the Hendy report to come which will surely cut back on other projects. In this climate, we simply cannot see Mr Corbyn getting the guarantee he seeks.”

“With the costs of HS2 set to spiral when they are finally worked out on current prices, there is no way other projects can be guaranteed. We welcome the fact Mr Corbyn is seriously looking at the implications of HS2, and remind him that if he finds the project to be deficient, it can be stopped when the bill comes back for third reading.”