Easter travel: Rail and Tube closures set to disrupt travel

Passengers travelling from London Marylebone to parts of Buckinghamshire will have to catch replacement buses

People travelling over the Easter weekend are set to face delays and cancellations due to engineering works on the rail network.

No trains will run in or out of Euston, which is likely to disrupt fans going to the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley.

Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted Airports will also be affected.

The timing has been called "ludicrous" by travel expert Simon Calder as it is the first bank holiday where all legal Covid restrictions have been axed.

He said: "Far more people [are] travelling at weekends now than during the week and now they find they can't go anyway and that's something Network Rail has to address."

Network Rail said it was undertaking a £22m upgrade project and had advised people to travel either side of the bank holiday.

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Many air passengers have already experienced a bad start to their holidays, after 1,000 UK flights were cancelled.

British Airways and Easyjet blamed staff shortages for the problems.

Mr Calder said "over-optimism on the part of the airlines" was to blame for the delays, and warned air travel could be problematic throughout the holidays.

He warned the "pressure is going to be on" before the Easter weekend.

How London airports are affected:

• Heathrow: Part of the Piccadilly line is set to be closed between Acton Town and all Heathrow terminals from Good Friday to Easter Monday TfL Rail and Heathrow Express services will continue to operate, and replacement bus services will be provided

• Gatwick: No Gatwick Express trains will run all weekend (Friday-Monday)

• Stansted: Buses will replace trains between the airport and Waltham Cross all weekend.

Several parts of the Tube network are closing over the bank holiday weekend, which Transport for London acknowledged would be "frustrating"

Rail services affected:

Network Rail said there was never an ideal time to shut the railway but Easter provided an opportunity to carry out essential work.

Dave Penney, passenger director for the north west and central region, said: "Long bank holiday weekends continue to give our engineers the time they need to close the railway for complex jobs like track replacements and bridge overhauls while disrupting the fewest number of people."

• Euston: No trains will run to or from Euston all weekend. Trains to to the West Midlands, north-west England and parts of Scotland will instead start from Milton Keynes Central

• There are no trains on the Chiltern Line between Marylebone and Aylesbury Vale Parkway on 16-17 April. Replacement buses will run from Aylesbury to Beaconsfield, where a train service will run to Marylebone

• Clapham Junction: Many services will not stop at Vauxhall or Earlsfield. Trains to Salisbury will stop at Basingstoke, and there will several other timetable alterations

• Victoria: No Southern Railway services will run from the station all weekend due to the maintenance work affecting the Gatwick Express

• There will also be some closures and timetable alterations on c2c and Greater Anglia

The construction of HS2 and its new Euston terminal has caused frequent line and station closures along the route

London Underground, Overground and DLR:

If you are planning to stay in London, your journey could still be fraught with delays and diversions, due to several parts of the Tube network closing.

• Hammersmith & City line: The entire line will be shut for the whole bank holiday weekend

• District line: Closed between Tower Hill and West Ham, as well as between Kensington (Olympia), due to works related to the new Elizabeth line. The line will also be closed on Easter Sunday between Turnham Green and Richmond for track maintenance

• Metropolitan line trains are running on a special timetable until further notice due to safety checks being carried out. There will be fewer services on the line, with severe delays predicted between Baker Street and Aldgate

• Parts of the Northern and Piccadilly lines will also be shut

• DLR: Closed between Prince Regent and Beckton from 15-17 April because of work to introduce new trains

• London Overground will be shut between Euston and Kilburn High Road, between Liverpool Street and Enfield Town, and between Cheshunt and Chingford, on 17 April

Transport for London (TfL) said customers should check before travelling and acknowledged the closures may be frustrating.

"Easter is an ideal time for us to undertake essential improvement works on the network as demand is lower and the four-day weekend means we can do complex works that take longer," a spokesperson said. "

FA Cup semi-finals:

Network Rail is advising Manchester City and Liverpool fans against travelling by train to Wembley Stadium on 16 April as trains from the North West will terminate at Milton Keynes Central, potentially leaving fans stranded.

Chiltern Railway trains will serve Wembley Stadium station, but the operator said it was expecting to be "extremely busy" due to closures on other lines and advised match-goers not to use its services.

The FA is advising match-goers to travel by Tube to Wembley Park or by car.

However, the Metropolitan line is operating a reduced service due to safety checks. TfL is advising people to use the Jubilee line to travel to Wembley Park or the Bakerloo line to Wembley Central.

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