Avanti West Coast advises customers making weekend journeys to check before travelling during final phase of major upgrade work in Scotland

• Normal weekday services to and from Scotland resume during third and final phase of Network Rail’s upgrade work at Carstairs
• West Coast Main Line closed at weekends until 4 June with no direct trains to and from Glasgow and Edinburgh, longer journey times and rail replacement services
• Customers strongly advised to plan their journey and check before they travel

Avanti West Coast is reminding customers making journeys to and from Scotland at weekends to check before they travel as Network Rail carry out upgrade work.

While the long-distance operator will resume its normal weekday timetable for services to and from Glasgow and Edinburgh on Monday 24 April, the West Coast Main Line will remain closed at weekends. This is to enable Network Rail to deliver the third and final phase of their work to modernise Carstairs Junction.

As a result, during weekends from Saturday 22 April until Sunday 4 June, Avanti West Coast will have no direct trains to Glasgow and Edinburgh.

On Saturdays and Sundays, trains will operate between London and Carlisle, where connections into rail replacement services to Glasgow and Edinburgh will be available. A limited rail service will also operate between Carlisle and Glasgow via Dumfries. As a result, journeys between Carlisle and Glasgow will take approximately 75 minutes longer.

Any customers travelling over these weekends are strongly advised to plan their journey, make a reservation, and check the Avanti West Coast website for the latest travel updates.

The reopening of the West Coast Main Line on weekdays follows the completion of the second phase of the Carstairs Modernisation Project. It means the intercity operator will operate its hourly service between London Euston and Glasgow Central, and its two-hourly service between London Euston and Edinburgh Waverley Monday to Friday.

This third phase marks the final stage of a three-month programme of work by Network Rail and is part of a £164m Scottish Government investment to modernise Carstairs Junction for passenger and freight services. The improvements will make this stretch of railway more reliable and able to better cope with the demands of the future.

Additionally, over the Early May Bank Holiday weekend (Saturday 29 April – Monday 1 May), there will be further changes to journeys as Network Rail will carry out essential improvement and engineering work across multiple sections of the West Coast Main Line.

Barry Milsom, Executive Director of Operations at Avanti West Coast said: “While we’re pleased to welcome the return of our normal weekday timetable on our Glasgow and Edinburgh routes, we’d like to remind customers the third and final phase of Network Rail’s major upgrade work will still significantly impact our weekend services. With no direct trains to or from Scotland on Saturdays and Sundays until early June, we’d like to thank our customers for their continued patience, and strongly advise they plan their journey, as well as visit the Avanti West Coast website for the latest updates.”

Further travel advice for journeys to and from Glasgow and Edinburgh up until June is available at: https://www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk/travel-information/plan-your-journey/planned-engineering-works/carstairs-modernisation-project

ENDS