Trains travelling through Warwick and Leamington to be impacted by closures

Chiltern Railways passengers are being urged to check before they travel ahead of a five-day closure of the Chiltern main line between Bicester and Leamington while Network Rail completes improvement work at the end of July.

As part of a more than £9million investment Network Rail and its partners at Story Contracting will work around the clock between Saturday July 27 and Wednesday July 31 to replace a bridge which carries the railway over the River Cherwell in King's Sutton near Banbury.

During the rail closure engineers will lift a new 240-tonne bridge deck into place using two special rail-mounted ‘Kirow’ cranes.

At the same time engineers are set to upgrade more 500 metres of railway north of Banbury station which includes replacing sections of track and drainage to help make journeys smoother.

While the work takes place the railway will be closed between Bicester and Leamington stations.

Improvements will also be taking place this weekend.

The railway will be closed between Bicester and Dorridge before 10am on Sunday July 21.

The railway will be also closed between Bicester and Leamington all day on Sunday July 21 and rail replacement buses will be in operation.

Replacement buses are being provided, connecting with trains to/from Marylebone at Bicester Village, and connecting with trains to/from Birmingham Moor Street at Leamington:

• Bicester Village - Banbury - Leamington
• Bicester Village - Banbury - Stratford
• Bicester Village - Kings Sutton - Banbury

Adam Checkley, infrastructure director for Network Rail, said: “I’d like to thank passengers for their patience while we complete over £9m of upgrades on the Chiltern main line between Bicester and Leamington Spa stations this month to help make journeys more reliable.

“If you're planning to catch a train during the rail closures, please check with Chiltern Railways and at www.nationalrail.co.uk before you travel for information about your journey.”

Andy Camp, commercial and customer strategy director at Chiltern Railways, added: “These crucial engineering works will ensure more reliable journeys for customers in the future and I would like to thank customers for their understanding as this work will mean they will need to change their normal travel plans during this period.

“There will be no through trains between London Marylebone and Birmingham on both Sunday July 21 and during the five-day closure at the end of the month.

"Journeys will be longer and may include travel on a rail replacement bus so I urge customers to check their journeys before setting out.”

For more information go to: www.chilternrailways.co.uk/jul24engineering