Rail passengers are being advised to plan ahead this Christmas as engineers prepare for a major overhaul of one of the West Coast Main Line’s busiest junctions, a project being likened to the country’s biggest festive jigsaw puzzle.

Hanslope Junction, a crucial point on the network 56 miles north of London Euston, handles more than 3,300 trains every week. From Christmas Eve, it will undergo a £26m transformation as Network Rail teams replace 130 individual pieces of track, strengthen the foundations beneath it, and refurbish the junction’s switches, points and crossings.

The scale of the work reflects the pressures on the junction, which has been a source of more than 11,000 minutes of delays over the past five years. Engineers say the upgrade will help reduce disruption and boost reliability for passengers long into the future.

The improvements will mean major timetable changes between Christmas Eve and the morning of 5 January. No trains will operate between Milton Keynes and Rugby, or between Milton Keynes and Northampton, while the line is shut for the works.

With the railway closed, engineers will also complete a series of additional projects. Platform 4 at Milton Keynes Central is being renewed as part of a £3.66m upgrade designed to replace ageing concrete planks and address uneven surfaces. Platforms 3 and 4 at Wolverton will be resurfaced in a separate £2m investment aimed at improving stepping distances and passenger safety. Near Roade, almost £600,000 is being spent on replacing more than 1,500 metres of track. In Stafford, work will continue on a £5.4m project to modernise Newport Bridge, which carries the A518 over the railway.

Gary Walsh, Network Rail’s route director for the West Coast South, said:

“These upgrades to the West Coast Main Line will make the railway more reliable and safer for many years to come. We appreciate passengers’ patience while this work takes place. If you plan to travel during the Christmas period, I would urge you to plan your journeys as early as possible and check in with National Rail Enquiries for the last information on services.”

Image: Network Rail