Britain’s busiest railway to shut for weeks every year in major repair works
Share:
Project aims to remove infrastructure that has been in place for 50 years. Passengers can expect rail disruption as the West Coast Main Line (WCML) is due to undergo once-in-a-lifetime renewals, with sections shutting for weeks at a time over a number of years.
The WCML is the busiest mixed-use (passenger and freight) railway in Europe, and connects the major cities of London and Glasgow, with branches also extending to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh. However, passengers may expect to see a delay in their journeys starting in 2026, when engineers are reportedly expected to begin working on renewing more than 150 miles of overhead wires installed in the 1970s, as well as renewing around 140 miles of track and 2,000 signal units.
The work is essential to keep the WCML working in the future for the large numbers of passenger and freight trains using the network every day. The newspaper reports that industry insiders have been told the line will be shut for three blocks of two weeks each in 2026, 2027 and 2028.
Similar engineering works are reportedly anticipated for up to 10 years but are yet to be scheduled. The stations that will be affected include Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan, Preston, Lancaster, Oxenholme, Penrith, and Carlisle. When asked about the reported plans, Chris Coleman, Network Rail industry programme director for the north, told The Independent: “Trilink is an industry-wide programme bringing digital signalling to the West Coast Main Line (north), as well as renewing track and overhead line equipment that are reaching the end of their life.
