PASSENGERS heading for London over the bank holiday weekend are reminded to check their journey as Network Rail prepares for the first closure of the railway at Watford.

As part of an £81million upgrade, the West Coast main line between London Euston and Watford is closing between Saturday, May 3 and Monday, May 5.

This means passengers will need to use alternative routes to travel in and out of London.

Dyan Crowther, route managing director for Network Rail, said: “The section of track at Watford is one of the most intensively used, high-speed sections in the UK and has seen tremendous growth in traffic and passengers over the last five years.

“There is never a good time to close the railway but this work is essential to maintain reliable train services for the millions of passengers who travel on this route every year.

“We have worked with all our industry partners to provide passengers with information in advance and will continue to during the work to minimise disruption as much as possible.”

The May Day weekend closure will be the first of eight weekend and bank holiday closures between May 2014 and April 2015 when significant upgrade work will be carried out to improve reliability and punctuality along this section of the West Coast main line.

Passengers are advised to visit nationalrail.co.uk/Watford for further information.