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Rail travellers will face disruption to services due to engineering work at Easter, with passengers praying there is no repeat of the chaos caused by overrunning work at Christmas.

File picture of a packed Southern train to London Victoria.

File picture of a packed train to London Victoria. Image by Teilo Colley/PA

Announcing the Easter programme of works, Network Rail (NR) chief executive Mark Carne said: “We have thoroughly reviewed our Easter improvement work and worked closely with the train operating companies.

“The industry has good contingency plans in place that will put passengers first.”

The Easter work will see some sections of lines shut, with buses replacing trains on some routes. One of the biggest projects is at Reading in Berkshire while another big project, at Watford in Hertfordshire, will mean disruption to journeys in and out of Euston station in London.

There will also be disruption to trains in and out of London’s Liverpool Street station, while other areas where services will be disrupted include Dorking in Surrey, Crewe in Cheshire, between Lancaster and Carlisle and between Peterborough and Ely.

Last Christmas work at King’s Cross and Paddington stations in London overran, causing King’s Cross to be shut on Saturday December 27 and for Paddington to be closed for part of the day.

The closures led to chaotic scenes at Finsbury Park station in north London with the platforms getting so crowded at one point that arriving passengers were unable to disembark.

The Wells Terrace entrance to Finsbury Park Tube station in north London will close on Monday April 20 and reopen in early 2018.

The closure will enable a new, bigger entrance to the station – the fourth busiest Underground station outside London’s Zone One central area.

(Press Association)