Check before you travel this summer – Planned train, tube, and motorway works in August 2023

Travelling in August can be a headache at the best of times, with millions heading off across the country by train, coach and car for the summer holidays.

Roadworks can be a nightmare, adding hours and unwanted miles to your journey if you”re caught up in them, while travellers passing through Dover have seen queues of nine miles.

This summer’s getaway will also be affected by industrial action on the trains – essentially an overtime ban – until Saturday, August 5, and Monday 7 to Saturday, August 12. This may also impact on some services run by Transport for London, too.

But at least with planned works you can check them out in advance and try to organise your journey to avoid them.

So how do you find out which works are upcoming on roads, rail and Tubes?

Let’s find out.

Planned works on trains

Network Rail says engineering work is planned across the country over the August bank holiday – from Saturday, August 26 to Monday, August 28, 2023.

This will include no service to or from London’s King’s Cross, and no Thameslink services between Bedford/Luton/Kentish Town/Plumstead from the Saturday to the Monday.

Replacement buses will be in action between London Bridge and Streatham Common on the Saturday and Sunday, and several other routes are also affected around the UK.

National Rail says: ‘There’s never a convenient time to close parts of the railway, but there are far fewer passengers taking the train than on a normal weekday, and bank holiday engineering works are planned far in advance, sometimes up to five years.

‘We’re fixing and improving the railway for more reliable rail travel in future.’

The easiest way to check your exact route is on National Rail’s dedicated ‘incidents’ page – you can put in your date of travel and see what engineering works are planned – or your train operator’s website. For updates, follow #AugustRailWorks on Twitter.

Planned works on the Tube

There are major works on some London tube lines – including the Waterloo and City Line which is due to close throughout August.

There will also be a part closure of the Bakerloo Line, up to and including Thursday, August 17.

The DLR will have no service between Canning Town and Stratford International from Saturday, August 19 to bank holiday Monday, August 28.

Travellers on the London Overground will face part closures during August until bank holiday Monday.

There will also be occasional closures on the Elizabeth Line, Piccadilly Line and Tram service.

Check your route using TfL’s planned engineering works calendar.

Planned roadworks on motorways

The M1, M11, M25, M3 and M4 are just some of the many motorways and major A roads which have works this August.

National Highways offers a detailed ‘road closure’ tool which allows you to input both the date you’ll be travelling and the key motorways/roads to see exactly which closures are in force, and when.

For example, this week sees various overnight closures on the M11 from 9pm to 5am.

It does warn, however, that roadworks are subject to change at short notice, especially in periods of poor weather, adding: ‘The further into the future you look, the more our schedules will be subject to change, so please check back regularly.’

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