More
than
95
per
cent


of
the
National
Rail
network
will
be
open
for
business
over
the
Easter
weekend,
said
Network
Rail.

However,
disruption
is
also
on
the
way
from
later
next
week
as
ASLEF
stages
pay
dispute
strikes
at
Avanti
West
Coast,
East
Midlands
Railway,
West
Midlands
Trains
and
CrossCountry
on
Friday
5
April,
at
Chiltern
Railways,
GWR,
LNER,
Northern
and
TransPennine
Express
on
6
April,
and
at
c2c,
Greater
Anglia,
Govia
Thameslink
Railway,
Southeastern
and
South
Western
Railway
(main
line,
depot
drivers
and
Island
Line)
on
8
April.

ASLEF
drivers
will
also
refuse
to
work
rest
days
from
Thursday
4
to
Saturday
6
April
and
from
Monday
8
to
Tuesday
9
April,
which
could
lead
to
some
services
being
changed
or
cancelled.

The
£90
million
plans
for
Easter
engineering
will
affect
the
West
Coast
Main
Line
between
London
and
Milton
Keynes,
while
track
replacements
and
upgrades
are
carried
out.
Trains
will
terminate
at
Milton
Keynes
Central
from
tomorrow
until
Easter
Monday
inclusive.

Work
will
continue
on
the
Transpennine
Route
Upgrade,
with
new
tracks
being
laid
in
the
Huddersfield
area,
while
a
major
junction
between
Glasgow
Central
and
Cambuslang
will
be
renewed.

Network
Rail’s
network
strategy
director
Lawrence
Bowman
said:
‘We
know
how
important
Easter
is
for
families
and
friends
to
catch
up
and
we
try
to
keep
as
much
of
the
network
open
as
possible.
There’s
never
a
good
time
to
do
the
work
we
need
to
do
but
the
four
days
of
the
bank
holiday,
when
fewer
people
are
travelling,
give
us
the
opportunity
to
do
major
work
we
couldn’t
do
in
normal
weekend.
That’s
projects
such
as
renewing
major
junctions
or
relaying
many
miles
of
track.

‘When
we
do
close
the
railway,
we
do
everything
we
can
to
get
as
much
work
into
those
closures
as
possible.
We’ve
got
493
different
pieces
of
work
taking
place
this
Easter,
most
happening
overnight, 
including
laying
over
8,000
metres
of
new
rail
and
putting
down
over
40,000
tonnes
of
new
ballast.

‘We
couldn’t
do
this
without
the
support
of
passengers,
freight
users
and
our
lineside
neighbours,
whose
patience
we
don’t
take
for
granted.
Thank
you.’