Part of London Overground and Underground to close for six days due to railway upgrade works

Maryam Kara
·2-min read
Journeys will be impacted from August 3 to August 8 (Alamy/PA)
Journeys will be impacted from August 3 to August 8 (Alamy/PA)

Railway upgrades over six days in August will affect passengers on the London Overground and Bakerloo line, Network Rail has announced.

Engineers are to carry out £2million worth of improvements to a 16-mile stretch of railway in north London, which will see journeys impacted from Saturday August 3 to Thursday August 8.

Network Rail has said it will be upgrading life-expired equipment that is prone to failure.

The Bakerloo line between Queen’s Park and Harrow and Wealdstone stations will be affected, along with the London Overground between Euston and Watford Junction stations.

Improvements are to include the renewals of both the high voltage power system providing power to the trains and the power system supplying the signalling equipment along the affected lines.

Engineers also plan to upgrade 3km of conductor rail, along with track switches and crossings allowing trains to cross paths more easily.

It is hoped works carried out amid the six-day closure prevent further disruption.

But commuters relying on affected routes may struggle during the six day period itself.

Alex Williams, Chief Customer and Strategy Officer at TfL, said: “We’re sorry for the disruption that Network Rail’s essential infrastructure upgrade work will cause to our customers’ journeys and are working closely with them to minimise the impact.

“Closures of this type enable work to be carried out which will make customer journeys more reliable in future and are scheduled to take place, where possible, in school holidays when demand on our network is significantly reduced.

“We advise our customers to use TfL’s Journey Planner or the TfL Go app to plan their journeys in advance during this period.”

Customers are also being urged to use buses, with temporary bus routes 718, 719 and 720 available during the closure periods.

They will provide connections to Bakerloo, Jubilee and Metropolitan lines.

Gary Walsh, Network Rail’s West Coast South route director, said: “We know there’s never an ideal time to close the railway, but working on consecutive days means that we can keep the railway open as much as possible throughout the rest of the year.

“I’d like to thank passengers for their understanding and patience in advance while we carry out these significant improvements to the Bakerloo line and London Overground.

“I appreciate that doing this essential work is disruptive for passengers so I’d urge people to keep in mind the line between Euston and Watford Junction will be closed and to check National Rail Enquiries and TfL for alternative public transport options in and out of London.”

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