Holiday Travel: Rail and Road Issues Forecasted

Travelers are being advised to avoid major routes across the north west of England to mitigate the impact of anticipated Christmas holiday traffic. Motorists have been urged to stay off the M53 between Chester and Liverpool for six hours on Friday and again on Saturday. Concurrently, signalling work at Crewe is expected to lead to delays and cancellations for rail passengers on services connecting to Liverpool, Manchester, and the broader North-West region. The RAC and transport analytics firm Inrix indicated that roads are likely to experience their highest traffic volumes between 13:00 and 19:00 GMT on both days. Alice Simpson, an RAC spokesperson, stated: “While the getaway starts to ramp up from Friday, snarl-up Saturday looks particularly challenging, as does Christmas Eve.” A survey commissioned by the RAC, involving 2,100 UK adults, revealed plans for three million leisure car trips on 20 December, increasing to 3.7m on 21 December. Getaway traffic is projected to reach its peak on Christmas Eve, with an estimated 3.8 million journeys. The total number of festive journeys between Wednesday and Christmas Eve is estimated at 29.3 million, marking the highest figure since the RAC commenced data recording in 2013. Ms Simpson suggested that traveling outside of peak hours “might be the only way drivers miss the worst of the jams.” National Highways announced that over 95% of roadworks on its network of England’s motorways and major A roads would be removed from 6:00 GMT on 20 December and would not be reinstated until 2 January. Simultaneously, ongoing rail engineering work is expected to intensify pressure on roads due to the closure of several lines. Specifically, there will be no direct rail services between Crewe and Liverpool, and a reduced service will operate between Crewe and Manchester from Saturday December 28 until Friday January 3. Concerns have also been raised that staffing shortages at train operators could contribute to further disruption.