The
railway
between
London
Euston
and
Milton
Keynes
Central

has
reopened
to
traffic
this
morning,
after
a
major
engineering
possession
which
closed
the
West
Coast
Main
Line
at
Watford
Junction
over
the
Easter
weekend.

The
upgrade
at
Watford
is
part
of
a
longer
programme
of
track
improvements
south
of
Milton
Keynes,
which
include
more
crossovers.
The
work
will
restart
over
the
early
May
bank
holiday
weekend.

It
was
part
of
a
much
greater
scheme
of
renewals
over
Easter,
which
involved
more
than
600
worksites.

Unlike
at
Christmas,
train
services
continued
throughout
the
holiday,
but
some
were
inevitably
changed
or
disrupted
so
that
engineers
could
take
possession
for
many
of
the
projects.
More
than
12,000
metres
of
new
rail
and
33,000
tonnes
of
ballast
were
being
laid
over
the
four
days,
although
Network
Rail
said
95
per
cent
of
the
network
was
unaffected.

There
was
one
unplanned
addition
to
the
closures,
when
it
became
clear
that
Nuneham
Viaduct
could
not
be
used,
with
the
result
that
no
through
trains
could
run
between
Oxford
and
Didcot
Parkway.
Work
on
the
bridge
is
continuing.

West
Coast
South
route
director
James
Dean
said:
‘I’d
like
to
thank
people
travelling
over
Easter
for
their
patience
while
we
carried
out
our
essential
railway
upgrades
to
improve
journeys
for
passengers
and
freight
in
the
future.

‘We
never
take
the
decision
to
close
Euston
station
lightly,
and
this
major
railway
junction
overhaul
in
Watford
just
wouldn’t
have
been
possible
without
closing
all
four
lines
entirely.
Now
it’s
complete,
after
two
years
of
major
work,
passengers
will
start
to
see
the
benefits
immediately
as
it
will
mean
faster,
more
reliable
journeys.’