Anthony Smith comments on announcement of 16-day closure of West Coast main line this summer

08 May 2019

As passengers were today given less than 12 weeks warning to expect a 16-day closure of the West Coast main line at Warrington from 20 July to 4 August, Anthony Smith, chief executive of independent watchdog Transport Focus, said:

“Given how far in advance people plan their summer holidays, giving less than 12 weeks’ notice of this closure will dismay many rail passengers. People recognise that engineering work is necessary to renew and improve the railway. They even accept this is often best completed in quieter holiday periods. But not getting the information out on time is really disappointing. Plus, it’s still not clear which trains will and won’t run – many journeys show as unconfirmed on National Rail Enquiries – and only full price ‘buy on the day’ tickets seem to be available. When will Virgin Trains put the cheaper Advance tickets on sale for affected journeys?”

ENDS

Notes for editors

Transport Focus has long called for passengers to be able to remain on trains that run over different routes wherever possible during major engineering ‘events’, so they don’t get put on buses for parts of their journey.

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