Main line rail chaos will last all year

THE scale of disruption to rail passengers travelling between Scotland and England is set to reach unprecedented levels, with engineering work now planned on the west coast main line on almost every weekend for the rest of the year, The Scotsman can reveal.

Network Rail wants to shut sections of the line for far longer than previously publicised, as part of a huge project to enable faster and more frequent trains to run from December.

But Virgin Trains, which runs services between Glasgow and London, predicted the misery for passengers would last even longer – until May next year.

Passenger watchdogs said last night they were "concerned" at the extent of the work still to be done, but added that they just wanted the job completed.

Network Rail previously said closures would be required over an extra 13 weekends this year – or one in four. However, it has now admitted this will be in addition to an extensive programme of disruptive work that has not been widely publicised.

The scale of the work means that, for much of the rest of this year, there will be virtually no weekends when passengers using the 400-mile line will not have to change their travel plans.

Network Rail has increased the amount of time it needs to complete the £8.6 billion upgrade, which started nearly a decade ago, following a major work overrun at New Year.

It has redrawn its plans, which are out to consultation, after the Office of Rail Regulation fined it a record £14 million for a four-day work overrun at Rugby, in the Midlands, in January.

So, from May until December, sections of the line will be closed over most weekends. In addition, a stretch near Rugby will be shut every Saturday between May and the August bank holiday, adding up to two hours to journeys.

Network Rail has also asked for a series of "firewall" weekends to be earmarked, in case it needs extra time to do work.

It said these would be cancelled in advance if they were not needed, but admitted that train companies would have to plan on the basis that services would be disrupted on those days.

News of the extra work came as Network Rail reassured passengers that work on the line over the Easter weekend would finish on time. No trains will run on the southern section of the line, between London and Birmingham, until Tuesday.

Virgin has advised its passengers to switch to the east coast main line instead.

Iain Coucher, the chief executive of Network Rail, said: "I can guarantee that we will do absolutely everything that we need to minimise the chance of any kind of overrun.

"We have learnt our lesson. We are very confident that we can do all the work we have to do over these four days."

Robert Samson, the Scotland manager of Passenger Focus, the official watchdog, said: "We are concerned about the amount of work that still has to be carried out, but our main concern is that the new, faster timetable is in place in December.

"Passengers have experienced years of delay on the west coast main line through engineering work, and we look forward to when they can enjoy massively improved services."

Alison McInnes, the Liberal Democrats' Scottish transport spokeswoman, said the disruption would do little to tempt commuters away from the roads.

She said: "It's very difficult to persuade the public to switch from their cars to trains if they cannot be guaranteed reliable and trouble-free journeys. The Scottish Parliament's transport committee needs to call in Network Rail to explain this situation as a matter of urgency."

After the upgrade is completed, Glasgow-London trains will increase to almost hourly in each direction, with journeys for the fastest services cut to four hours ten minutes – one hour faster than five years ago.

Virgin Trains said it remained to be convinced by Network Rail's latest plans for the rest of the year, and that there might be a case for extending the work to May next year.

"What passengers want is some degree of certainty, which we are currently unable to give them," a spokesman said.

"It is possible that extending this year's work into next year may be less painful for passengers, but we have not been given full details of the options.

"The situation in January opened a can of worms. After the New Year fiasco, Network Rail has gone back to the nuts and bolts to look at the work again."

Virgin agreed that once the project was completed future work should be less disruptive to passengers. This was because the upgrading work has included extra tracks, so trains can be switched to them when lines have to be closed again.

Mr Coucher said: "There is a massive prize to be had for passengers and freight users by finishing the £8.6 billion west coast improvements this year. There will be a huge increase in services, some 30 per cent, and Scotland will see significantly faster journey times.

"To deliver these benefits and finish the project, we need to add a further 10 per cent of time to the engineering work we had already planned and agreed. This additional time adds 13 extra weekends of work and extends some existing booked work.

"During this work, passengers will still be able to get to Scotland directly by train – it is completely wrong to suggest there is going to be massive additional disruption."

He said Network Rail wanted passenger feedback before taking a final decision for approval by the rail regulator.