UK rail infrastructure company Network Rail is set to close busy commuter rail lines this weekend as it carries out its £75m Easter rail improvement programme across the country.
Network Rail will lay almost 20 miles of track, install new signaling and points and replace a viaduct on the Cumbria coast as 6,000 of its staff work over the four-day holiday weekend.
Set to cause disruption for hundreds of thousands of passengers, Network Rail says the work must be carried to improve the service as quickly as possible.
"We know our Easter improvement programme impacts on passengers but the demands on our rail network are growing and we need to invest to deliver a better service for everyone," says Network Rail Chief Executive Iain Coucher.
"Our challenge is to do this invisibly - to get in, rip up the old railway, put in a new better one - and then get out on time, while causing the least amount of disruption possible."
Maintenance work will also be carried out at London's Liverpool Street, Rugby Station and on the busy West Coast Main Line where passengers were left stranded after engineering overruns over the Christmas break, leading to a record £14m fine by UK rail regulator the Office of Rail Regulation.
By Ozge Ibrahim
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