Wigan passengers travelling on the West Coast main line are being assured of a smoother journey than usual this bank holiday weekend – despite planned upgrade work.

Network Rail said the majority of the railway between London Euston and the north-west of England will be open for business this August bank holiday weekend – but planned upgrade work means passengers should plan their journeys in advance.

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Between Saturday 24 and Monday 26 August Network Rail engineers will be completing major track upgrades in Stoke-on-Trent and Crewe. Work to prepare for HS2 – Britain’s new high speed railway – will also be taking place in the Duddeston area of Birmingham and near London Euston station.

Network Rail said engineering work had been planned to keep disruption to a minimum over the bank holiday weekend

placeholder image — Network Rail said engineering work had been planned to keep disruption to a minimum over the bank holiday weekend

Over the long weekend, work includes:

- Upgrades to the drainage, track and signalling in the Crewe station area.

- Improvement work in Stoke-on-Trent to reduce delays and improve performance for passengers and freight services on the West Coast main line.

- Track upgrades between Birmingham New Street and Coleshill Parkway stations as part of long-term improvements and to prepare for HS2.

- HS2 engineers will also be continuing work between London Euston and Milton Keynes to lengthen a road bridge.

The carefully planned upgrades mean that most of the network will be open for people to travel to see friends, family and attend events across the country, including this year's Manchester Pride festival which takes place over the bank holiday weekend.

James Dean, Network Rail’s passenger director, said: “We’ve planned our engineering work to keep disruption to a minimum so people can rely on the railway to get them to where they need to be across the bank holiday. Most services will be running as usual but I do advise for those planning to travel to check their journeys in advance.”

In recent years, rail travel on bank holiday weekends has been marred by track closures and diversions caused by engineering works, and also by a long-running programme of strikes and industrial action by rail unions. However, no such industrial action is planned to take place for this year’s bank holiday.

Passengers are advised to plan their journeys in advance at www.nationalrail.co.uk.