Rail works could cause disruption for people planning train journeys from Milton Keynes over Christmas

People are advised to plan their journeys carefully over the festive period and check whether there will be closures on their route.

Network Rail says there will be “major projects” on the North West, Central and West Coast Mainline South routes between December 24 and December 27.

These will include work on overhead wire stanchions at Bletchley - to pave the way for a new flyover to be built across the West Coast main line to carry East West Rail between Oxford and Bedford..

There will also be work in and around Euston station in preparation for HS2.

Tim Shoveller, managing director of Network Rail’s North West and Central region, said: “While people enjoy time with their friends and families over Christmas, thousands of Network Rail staff will be working round-the-clock to maintain and improve the railway to provide passengers with better, more reliable journeys in the New Year.”

He added: “ I know there is never a good time to disrupt journeys while we carry out large pieces of work but whenever possible we do this at times when there are significantly fewer people travelling by train, such as Christmas and other bank holidays. I appreciate people have important plans so I urge them to please plan ahead and check before they travel for the latest journey information.”

There are no trains on Christmas Day, but some services will be running on Boxing Day.

Passengers whose journeys could be affected should plan ahead and check before they travel at www.nationalrail.co.uk or with their train operator.