Network Rail to start Crewe Station upgrade at Christmas with nine-day closure in February

Network Rail will begin a multi-million-pound upgrade of Crewe Station over Christmas 2026, renewing track, signals, overhead power lines and the station roof in a programme that continues through 2027.

The infrastructure owner announced the investment on 28 October. Engineering teams will work on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, when no trains run, so that the first phase does not affect passengers, it said.

That initial work sets up a series of further improvements during 2027, starting with a nine-day closure of the railway from 13 February. Network Rail gave no cost figure for the programme beyond describing it as multi-million-pound, and named no contractor.

Tommy Fleming, Network Rail sponsor, said: "This multi-million-pound investment will deliver a safer and more reliable railway for the North, reduce the need for future maintenance and improve the experience of passengers travelling through the station."

He added: "Delivering improvements on this scale will require a series of temporary railway closures, beginning at Christmas 2026."

The February closure

Avanti West Coast said it was liaising with Network Rail and industry partners ahead of the February closure so that passengers travelling in that period know their alternative options. More information will be available in the coming weeks once timetables are confirmed, the operator said.

Kathryn O'Brien, Customer Experience Director at Avanti West Coast, said: "These upgrades signal the start of working towards an improved experience for our customers travelling to and from Crewe."

Avanti said no trains operate across its network on 25 and 26 December, which this year allows the work to start with no impact on services.

Previous Crewe scheme

The new programme follows a resignalling and track project around Crewe that Network Rail completed in January 2025. Network Rail put the cost at £190m in its January 2025 story on the scheme, having described it as "almost £200m" in a November 2024 release.

That project also relied on a Christmas closure, with timetable changes running from 24 December 2024 to 2 January 2025. According to Network Rail, it finished when full control of signalling moved from three traditional signal boxes to the Manchester Rail Operating Centre, and it upgraded 74 sets of points.

Siemens carried out the signalling, associated civils, electrical and telecoms work, Network Rail said, while Central Rail Systems Alliance delivered the track upgrade, drainage renewal and overhead line modifications. The three decommissioned signal boxes were Salop Goods, Basford Hall Junction and Crewe Sorting Sidings North.

West Coast Main Line programme

Network Rail says it is investing £400m in the West Coast Main Line up to March 2029. The route carries 2,000 passenger trains and 15,000 tonnes of goods every day, according to the company, which completed major engineering work across the line in spring and early summer 2026.

Network Rail described Crewe as one of Britain's most important transport hubs. Cheshire East Council has made a similar case, describing the town as one of the UK's most important rail hubs connecting the North West, Midlands, Wales, Scotland and London.

In July 2026 the council's leader and deputy leader, councillors Nick Mannion and Michael Gorman, called on the Government to back further investment in Crewe Station. Crewe Town Board had been told in November 2025 that an improvement plan for the station was under way with Avanti and Network Rail.

The nine-day closure begins on 13 February 2027, with Avanti timetables for the period still to be confirmed.