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Avanti West Coast has confirmed there will be no direct trains between Glasgow and London over the festive period due to engineering works. The rail operator will not be running direct services between the two cities between Saturday, December 27 and Wednesday, January 14, due to Network Rail works south of the border. Avanti has advised customers to plan ahead and check for updates before travelling. A spokesperson said: "From Saturday 27 December until Wednesday 14 January there will be no direct Avanti West Coast services between London Euston and Glasgow Central due to Network Rail carrying out major engineering work on the West Coast Main Line. "Over the festive period, we strongly advise customers to plan ahead and check before they travel." The West Coast Mainline disruption comes due to works on three separate parts of the line. According to Avanti's website, between December 27 and January 5, £26 million worth of major works are taking place near Milton Keynes, resulting in a total closure of the line. While replacement buses will run between Milton Keynes Central and Northampton, services will then only continue to Manchester and Rugby. Then between December 31 and January 14, Network Rail works near Penrith will mean more full closures on the West Coast Mainline to replace a 60-year-old bridge. For those travelling between Scotland and Carlisle towards the North West of England, Avanti West Coast trains will run via the Settle and Carlisle route between Preston and Carlisle. Those travelling between London and Scotland have been urged to use Avanti's journey planner online here. The firm has advised those travelling between Scotland and Manchester or the Midlands to fund alternative routes via CrossCountry and LNER. Sign up to our daily Glasgow Live newsletter here to receive news and features direct to your inbox Between January 1 and January 6, there is also works between Carlisle and Lockerbie. Services from Glasgow will run to and from Lockerbie, but replacement buses will ship passengers from Lockerbie to Carlisle. TransPennine Express (TPE) has made slight amendments to better connect with Avanti's services over the Settle and Carlisle (S&C) line. This includes changes from Monday to Saturday to facilitate smoother connections for customers. The operator is also increasing connectivity between Edinburgh and Glasgow by running a shuttle service during the closure, which will run once every two hours. It comes after earlier this month, Network Rail revealed lines across Glasgow and the west coast will be affected for a 10-day period while a new bridge is built at Bowling, as part of a £130m investment programme. Between December 24 and January 2 no services will operate between Glasgow and Dalmuir, Balloch, Helensburgh Central and Crianlarich, impacting ScotRail and Caledonian Sleeper trains. Join Glasgow Live's WhatsApp community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages.
