Passengers advised of major rail upgrades in Crewe over Christmas

The final stages of work to improve freight services on the West Coast main line means changes to trains over Christmas.

Network Rail has invested almost £200m to upgrade the Crewe Basford Hall independent lines on the West Coast main line.

The Basford Hall independent lines in Crewe take freight trains around Crewe station and back onto the West Coast main line, so services can efficiently transport essential goods up and down the country.

The infrastructure has been upgraded to make sure cargo can be delivered safely and reliably for years to come. There has been important drainage and track work, and a full resignalling in the area, to modernise the “traffic” system.

Over the past two years, 65 new signals, 49km of cables, and 5km of new drainage has been installed to the independent lines. Other essential parts of the work included new buildings to accommodate the signalling system, new track equipment and structures, and upgrades to the track itself.

The signalling upgrade also means that three signal boxes* will close, and control of the traffic will move to the Manchester rail operating centre (ROC).

The work will be completed over Christmas and involves significant railway closures to make sure the work can be carried out safely and efficiently.

Passengers are advised that there will be changes to train timetables between Tuesday 24 December 2024 and Thursday 2 January 2025.

Jamie Morris, Network Rail programme manager, said: 

“The signalling upgrade work at the Basford Hall independent lines means that essential goods can travel by freight up and down the country safely and efficiently for years to come.”

“Food and construction materials are just some of the tens of thousands of goods transported every month by our freight network.

“I’d urge passengers to check before they travel from 24 December until 2 January as there are changes to services to, from and through Crewe over the Christmas period. We have worked hard to reduce the impact on passengers as much as possible, which means there is a different timetable on different days during this time.

“I am grateful to passengers and the community of Crewe for their patience during this important work.”

Network Rail is working closely with train operating colleagues to keep passengers safely on the move.

Taryn Banks, Avanti West Coast station manager at Crewe, said:

“While this major work takes place, there’ll be changes to all services in and around the Crewe area. On Friday 27 December, no trains will run to or from Crewe, but replacement buses will connect customers to nearby stations. From Saturday 28 December to Thursday 2 January, we’ll be operating an amended timetable with a reduced service to Manchester and no direct trains to Liverpool on Wednesday 1 and Thursday 2 January.

“Anyone travelling on these dates is strongly advised to plan their journey, make a reservation, and check with their train operator as well as the National Rail website for the latest updates.”

The work will be completed in January 2025.

Network Rail is also advising passengers of work across the North West route during the Christmas period.

Engineers will be improving the signalling system in south Manchester and starting preparation work to the Greek Street bridge in Stockport, ahead of its rebuild next year.

Passengers travelling to London Euston are also strongly urged to plan their journeys in advance as major rail upgrades mean Euston station is expected to be much busier than usual from Christmas Eve, into the New Year.

More information can be found on: 

www.networkrail.co.uk/wcml

Pictured - Workers carrying out track upgrades in Crewe.