Travel delays expected over busy Easter weekend

Deal announced

People planning to get away for the Easter break are being warned to prepare for long delays.

The motorways, trains and airports are expected to be extremely busy with people taking advantage of the school holidays and long weekend.

One of the biggest issues will be on the trains with people being warned not to travel to London on Easter Sunday.

Engineering work means London Euston will effectively be shutdown on Sunday, with no trains running in or out of the station.

The closure will affect services on the West Coast main line, including Birmingham, Coventry, Manchester, Preston, Carlisle and Scotland.

Services on the Saturday (March 31) and Monday (April 2) will also be busier as fewer trains than normal will be running.
Meanwhile, an estimated 160,000 travellers are expected to pass through Manchester Airport this weekend.

The most popular destinations will be:

• Tenerife
• Amsterdam
• Alicante
• Dublin
• Malaga
• Dubai

Passengers are being warned to allow themselves extra time for their journey.

A spokesperson said: “That includes getting to the airport, as roads can be busier over the Easter weekend, and getting through the airport itself.

“That means plenty of time for check in and security. Passengers can ease the security process by removing gloves, scarves, coats and belts before entering the security hall, and having all their liquids, gels and pastes less than 100ml and in a clear plastic bag. Plastic bags are available free of charge from the airport.”

Highways England is doing its best to keep the roads as clear as possible. The agency is removing some 300 miles of roadworks to make journeys better for drivers and their passengers.

The move means around 99 per cent of motorways and major A-roads will be roadworks-free in time for Easter.

Managing director of National Express Coaches, Chris Hardy, said: “We work with Highways England round the year to support them in maintaining and improving the road network that links the 900 plus destinations we offer services to.

“With more than 1,100 airport services every day, we will be carrying over 91,000 passengers direct to the departure doors over the Easter period. That’s 16 per cent more than last year, showing what an important part coach travel plays in holiday getaway plans.

“It’s great that Highways England have lifted roadworks on key routes, including those serving airports, helping us make sure we can get passengers where they need to be for their Easter plans.”

Notable locations benefitting from works lifted or completed includes which are likely to see increased traffic include three miles of roadworks being lifted M55 junction 3 (near Windy Harbour) – Blackpool.

Highways England’s customer service director, Melanie Clarke, said: “We’re doing everything we can to make journeys as smooth as possible this Easter and that’s why we’re keeping 99 per cent of the road network we manage, free from roadworks.

“Safety is our top imperative and we know from experience that almost half of breakdowns are avoidable and these can easily be avoided with simple vehicle checks.

“Easter is always a busy period on the road network and we’d urge all motorists to make sure they do their bit to check their vehicle is roadworthy before setting off over this period.”

Highways England data also shows of the more than 1bn miles travelled in the week leading up to Easter last year, more than 280 million miles were on Maundy Thursday alone, almost 20 million more than the preceding Thursday.

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