Watford Junction - London Euston routes closing for six days

Network Rail engineers are set to carry out upgrades on the Bakerloo line and the London Overground from Saturday (August 3) until next Thursday (August 8).

A 16-mile stretch of railway will see £2million worth of improvements, between Queen’s Park and Harrow & Wealdstone on the Bakerloo as well as between Euston and Watford Junction on the Overground.

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The railway company says the work will improve reliability by upgrading “life-expired” equipment that is prone to failure.

West Coast South route director at Network Rail Gary Walsh 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.”

London Northwestern Railway services from Watford Junction and Bushey will operate as normal.

The following temporary bus routes will be available:

• 718 – running between Queen’s Park and Harrow & Wealdstone
• 719 – running between Queen’s Park and Wembley Park on weekdays only, between 7.30am to 8.30pm
• 720 – running between Watford Junction and Harrow-on-the-Hill, via Harrow & Wealdstone.

TfL London Overground train. (Image: Network Rail)

Work includes the renewal of the power system that supplies signalling equipment along the lines, upgrading 3km of the conductor rail, renewing the high voltage power system that powers trains, and upgrading track switches and crossings.

TfL chief customer and strategy officer Alex Williams 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.”