Improvements due to be carried out on a 20-mile stretch of railway in North London next month will mean that many journeys to and from Harrow stations will be impacted.
Bakerloo Line and London Overground passengers are being advised of essential railway upgrades which will impact journeys in the run-up to Christmas between Saturday 17 and Friday 23 December.
Network Rail engineers will carry out ‘major improvements’ to a stretch of railway in north London which means the Bakerloo line between Queen’s Park and Harrow & Wealdstone and the London Overground between Euston and Watford Junction will be closed.
With one month until work, passengers are being advised to plan ahead by checking their journeys online. Some of the works due to be completed include upgrading 1.6km of railway drainage between Harlesden and Kenton to prevent future flooding, and demolition of a derelict, railway-locked electricity substation in danger of collapse.
Closing the railway for consecutive days means that maintenance teams can carry out multiple complex projects at once which would otherwise take years of weekend or overnight work.
James Dean, Network Rail’s West Coast South route director, said: “We know there’s never an ideal time to close the railway, so I’d like to thank passengers for their understanding in advance while we carry out these significant improvements to the Bakerloo line and London Overground.
“I appreciate that doing this essential work over consecutive days will be disruptive for passengers so I’d urge people to keep in mind the line between Euston and Watford will be closed and to check National Rail Enquiries and TfL for alternative public transport options in and out of the capital.”
Geoff Hobbs, director of public transport service planning for TfL, said: “We’re sorry for any disruption that Network Rail’s essential track renewal work will cause to our customers’ journeys and are working closely with them to minimise the impact. Closures of this type enable work to be carried out which will make customer journeys more reliable in future and are scheduled to take place, where possible, in school holidays when demand on our network is significantly reduced.
“This closure will also be used to carry out improvement works at the stations that are temporarily closed. We advise our customers to use TfL’s Journey Planner or the TfL Go app to plan their journeys in advance during these essential closures.”
Passengers are reminded to check www.nationalrail.co.uk for further updates on how Christmas and New Year railway upgrades could also impact journeys.
