Network Rail is removing a bridge south of Watford, so nothing runs from Milton Keynes Central to Euston until 16:00 on Sunday 20 September. The ways round.

No trains will run between Milton Keynes Central and London Euston until 16:00 on Sunday 20 September. Network Rail is removing a bridge on the West Coast Main Line between Euston and Watford Junction, and the line is shut south of Watford for most of the day.

Avanti West Coast is telling passengers to avoid travelling to or from Euston that day altogether. Its notice, published through London Northwestern Railway and mirrored by National Rail, calls the work “urgent” and “late-notice”.

This is a bigger problem for Milton Keynes than a normal Sunday possession. The city sits north of the closure, so trains can still run north and west out of Milton Keynes Central. It is the London end that goes.

What actually runs

  • Avanti West Coast: nothing between Euston and Milton Keynes Central until 16:00.
  • London Northwestern Railway: nothing between Euston and Watford Junction until 16:00. Trains that normally run Euston to Milton Keynes Central will instead start and finish at Watford Junction. Trains that normally run Euston to Birmingham New Street or Crewe will instead start and finish at Milton Keynes Central.
  • Lumo: four services all day, none of them useful for a London day trip from Milton Keynes. They are the 10:52 and 16:19 Crewe to Stirling, the 16:32 Stirling to Euston and the 19:35 Euston to Preston.
  • After 16:00: trains run to and from Euston again, but the operators expect them to be “extremely busy”.

Avanti will still run an amended long distance service from Milton Keynes Central: one train an hour to Scotland, one an hour to Manchester Piccadilly and one an hour to Liverpool Lime Street. If you are heading north rather than south, your day is largely intact.

How to reach London anyway

The operators are pointing people at the Midland Main Line instead. Rail replacement buses will run from Milton Keynes Central to Bedford, and from Bedford you can take Thameslink or East Midlands Railway into London St Pancras International.

Getting to London from Milton Keynes on Sunday 20 September THE USUAL WAY, CLOSED UNTIL 16:00 Milton Keynes Central bridge removal, Euston to Watford Junction London Euston THE WAY ROUND Milton Keynes Central bus Bedford train London St Pancras International Source: London Northwestern Railway and Avanti West Coast service alteration notice for Sunday 20 September 2026, as published by National Rail. Schematic, not to scale. Graphic by MK Daily
The two routes to London on Sunday 20 September. Graphic by MK Daily.

A second option is to travel only as far as Watford Junction on a London Northwestern train, then use the replacement buses that run between Potters Bar and Watford Junction, and pick up a Great Northern or Thameslink service at Potters Bar into London Kings Cross. The operators suggest that connection for anyone coming the other way, and it works in reverse.

The London Overground Lioness line is also out between Euston and Watford Junction, until roughly 18:00. Tickets will be accepted on the Bakerloo line between Queens Park and Harrow and Wealdstone, and on bus routes 142, 258, 246, R17, 182 and H14 in that corridor.

If you already have a ticket

Avanti West Coast is letting passengers with an existing ticket dated 20 September travel instead on any day from Friday 18 to Tuesday 22 September, at no extra cost. Its notice says this applies even if only one leg of a return is affected, so both the outward and return can move.

That flexibility is worth using. A journey to London that normally takes 32 minutes on a fast Avanti service will, on 20 September, involve a bus, a change and a different London terminus.

And the Sunday before

There is separate work the weekend before, on Sunday 13 September, at the other end of the line. All lines close early between Milton Keynes Central and Northampton. Before 08:45, London Northwestern services from Euston to Northampton will terminate at Milton Keynes Central, with replacement buses running on to Northampton. The 07:24 Euston to Birmingham New Street will run Euston to Milton Keynes Central, then Northampton to Birmingham New Street.

What we could not confirm

Neither operator names the bridge, and neither says where between Euston and Watford Junction it stands. Network Rail has published no scheme page for the work, so the only description available is the operators’ own phrase, “an urgent bridge removal”. We checked Network Rail’s own website on 9 September and found nothing about it there.

What it means for you

  • Do not plan a London trip out of Milton Keynes before 4pm on Sunday 20 September. Nothing runs directly.
  • If you already hold an Avanti ticket for that day, move it. It is valid from Friday 18 to Tuesday 22 September at no charge.
  • If you must travel, the bus to Bedford and a Thameslink to St Pancras is the route the operators themselves are recommending. Allow well over an hour more than usual.
  • After 4pm the trains run again, and both operators expect them to be packed. A seat reservation is worth having.
  • Heading north instead? Avanti keeps one train an hour from Milton Keynes Central to Scotland, Manchester and Liverpool.
  • Sunday 13 September is a different, smaller problem: buses between Milton Keynes Central and Northampton before 08:45.

Our Milton Keynes trains to London page has the normal timetable and fares, and the roadworks and travel page carries the road closures running alongside this.

Sources