PASSENGERS planning to travel on the West Coast Main Line over the August bank holiday are being advised to check before making their journey.

Improvement works are planned on the railway in the Greater Manchester and Milton Keynes areas as part of a £19m investment towards safer and more reliable services for passengers and freight between Saturday August 24 and 26.

David Golding, interim route managing director, said: “We appreciate there is never a good time to carry out large-scale improvements to the railway. I know that bank holiday engineering work can affect passengers who want to make the most of the long weekend but we plan the work to affect the fewest number of people.

“Thankfully, disruption for passengers travelling between London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and the Lake District is minimal. However, we are still urging passengers to check before they travel at www.nationalrail.co.uk as major work on other parts of the network could have a knock-on effect.”

More than 2,700 railway engineers will be working around the clock to improve the railway for passengers in the North West & Central Region over the bank holiday weekend.

Passengers are advised to check www.nationalrail.co.uk to see if their journey will be affected.