Many London Midland trains between Coventry and London will be replaced by buses over the Bank Holiday weekend of 24-6 May, as Network Rail works on improvements to the railway.
The work is part of an £8 billion upgrade which will allow faster and more frequent services to London on the West Coast Mainline for all rail services.
Buses will replace London Midland trains between:
- Northampton and Coventry, from Saturday to Bank Holiday Monday (May 24-6) inclusive.
- London Euston and Northampton, and between Northampton and Coventry on Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday (May 25-6) inclusive.
- Coventry and Nuneaton from Saturday to Bank Holiday Monday (May 24-26) inclusive.
In addition:
- London Midland trains between London Euston and Bletchley will be running until 2145hrs on Saturday (May 24).
- The last train of the Bank Holiday Weekend from London Euston to Bletchley is the 2145hrs on Saturday (May 24), arriving in Bletchley at 2245hrs; afterwards, all trains will be replaced by buses throughout the Bank Holiday Weekend.
Anyone travelling north of Northampton from London may have a quicker journey by using another train operator's service. Details of the bus replacement timetable will be published on the London Midland website and available through online booking services.
London Midland's operations director Andy Thomas said: "We're very conscious of the problems that followed work over last bank holiday, and we're making very clear to Network Rail that we need to be able to run our services as free from problems as possible this time round.
"Passengers on our services between Northampton and London have faced serious delays and disruption to their journeys over the past few weeks and I'd like to thank them for their patience and understanding. In the longer term, the work is vital in building a better railway for all passengers.
"In the meantime, I can only ask passengers to allow more time for their journey, and check in advance with National Rail Enquiries to see whether their plans will be affected."
The Rugby closure is one of a number of stages of the West Coast engineering project which will affect London Midland services in 2008. Ultimately the completion of this major work will mean that London Midland will be able to introduce new and extra train services, especially serving Liverpool and the north west and direct London services through the Trent Valley to Lichfield and Rugeley.
Passengers can find out more about London Midland services from on this website, www.londonmidland.com, or from National Rail Enquiries on 0845 7 48 49 50, at www.nationalrail.co.uk.
