'Check before you travel' warning for Milton Keynes key workers travelling by train over VE Day weekend

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Bank holiday engineering works means special timetable on routes into London

Key workers who need to travel by train are being urged to check timetables ahead of May's two Bank Holiday weekends.

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Vital engineering works will continue over the VE Day weekend and the late-May holiday causing disruption to some services to London Northwestern Railway and Avanti West Coast services from Milton Keynes and Bletchley.

Trains will operate to a special timetable and run less frequently into and out of London Euston with some early-morning services on Sunday (May 10) replaced by buses.

Trains from Milton Keynes will be running to a special timetable over VE Day weekendTrains from Milton Keynes will be running to a special timetable over VE Day weekend
Trains from Milton Keynes will be running to a special timetable over VE Day weekend | other

The essential upgrades have been carefully planned to ensure vital freight can keep moving around the country and people who cannot work from home can still get to their jobs.

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Tim Shoveller, managing director for Network Rail’s North West & Central region, said: “The schemes we are carrying out over the weekends in May are all must-do work.

"We have planned it so as to minimise disruption to freight and those who do need to travel. It will help to ensure the railway is at its best when Britain emerges from this coronavirus pandemic."

Passengers are reminded to continue following Government advice regarding using public transport and only make journeys by bus or train when absolutely necessary..

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Those who do need to travel over the affected weekends in May are being advised to check the National Rail Enquiries ljourney planner ahead of the engineering work.

The work being carried out includes a major upgrade for one of the most iconic sights on the route to London.

The 60-year-old Bletchley Flyover was built to allow trains to cross the West Coast Main Line without interfering with express services.

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Eight huge sections — each weighing in at a hefty 295 tonnes — are being lifted out by some of the largest cranes in Europe to build the East West Rail route linking Northampton and Milton Keynes with Oxford, Bedford and Aylesbury.