It's a no-good Friday as Northampton and Milton Keynes train travellers face FOUR DAYS of cancellations

Train operators are warning passengers to avoid trips over the Easter holiday weekend as engineering works are set to bring travel chaos to routes through Northampton and Milton Keynes.

Operators London Northwestern Railway and Avanti West Coast say no trains will run between MK and London between Good Friday and Easter Monday.

Easton station will be shut down to main line services for FOUR DAYS until early Tuesday morning (April 19) as work on track renewals, switches and crossings and HS2 in the capital will be carried out as part of Network Rail investing £83 million on 530 upgrade projects.

Shuttle trains will connect Northampton and Milton Keynes with some services replaced by buses to Stanmore, from where passengers can reach central London by underground.

Services north of Northampton will also be disrupted by more engineering work between Coventry and Birmingham with buses running between Rugby and Birmingham International.

That could affect Northampton Town fans travelling to the club’s League Two clash at Oldham on Good Friday.

Despite the massive shutdown Network Rail insists the majority of the country's rail network will be "open as usual".

■ Click HERE for full details on London Northwestern Railway Easter services

■ Click HERE for Avanti West Coast Easter timetables.

But passenger director for the North West and Central region, Dave Penney, confessed: “There is never an ideal time to shut the railway and we have to carefully balance the best time to do this essential work with the needs of our passengers.

"Long bank holiday weekends continue to give our engineers the time they need to close the railway for complex jobs like track replacements and bridge overhauls while disrupting the fewest number of people.

“I’d urge people to travel before and after these big jobs need to close sections of railway, so they have the smoothest journey possible. Please plan ahead and check National Rail Enquiries so you know exactly what to expect.”

East Midlands Railway and Thameslink services are expected to run as normal from Corby, Kettering, Wellingborough and Bedford to London St Pancras over Easter but operators warn trains are likely to be busier than normal due to the West Coast Main Line closure.