A SENIOR director for the organisation which manages Britain's railways has warned travellers to plan ahead over the festive period.

Network Rail has a number of major schemes in place in Greater Manchester this Christmas as engineers attempt to complete work at a time when the railways are not usually busy.

The work includes overhead line installation around Manchester Victoria which is expected to impact upon some passengers, and boosting of electrical feeds between Ordsall and Stalybridge, in an attempt to boost resilience ahead of the planned introduction of electric trains in 2019.

Martin Frobisher, Network Rail's London North Western route managing director, said: “The railway is traditionally much quieter than usual during the festive period so taking on and delivering these bigger pieces of work at this time, as part of our Railway Upgrade Plan, means we will cause the least inconvenience to the fewest number of people.

“While the majority of the network is open as usual, some routes will be affected so I would urge passengers to plan their journeys and check before they travel for the latest information.”

Other sections of the work will cause disruption around Ashton-under-Lyne where drainage work and cabling inside the Katherine Street Tunnel are set to begin.

The work is taking place between 11pm on Christmas Eve and 6pm on New Year’s Day, but the railway isn’t entirely closed during this time. Passengers are being advised to check before they travel to see how this may impact on journeys.

To check train times, visit: www.nationalrail.co.uk.