Reading festival-goers and passengers to Stansted will be affected as routes will be interrupted going out from London to Edinburgh, South Wales and Birmingham.

Network Rail chief executive John Armitt said the decision to carry out the work over the long weekend would cause less inconvenience than the alternative. "We do concentrate on keeping the traffic moving for people to go to work," he said.

Are you affected by the travel disruptions? Should the decision to carry out the work this weekend have been taken? Will it affect your weekend plans?

This debate is now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.

The following comments reflect the balance of views we have received:

Just be grateful your trains work at all. In South Africa if a train arrives the same day that it's scheduled for (or at all, for that matter), everyone rejoices...
Jason Miles, UK (South African ex-pat)

Most of the attractions set up for Bank holidays are set up with the idea of making money and forcing us to travel Tony, Welling, Kent

I want to throw a slightly different aspect on this. Maintenance has to be done and we have to keep moving. What happens when two immutable laws hit each other head on? The usual physical answer is chaos. Bank holidays were introduced as public holidays to give the average worker a few days off in the year when there were no holidays. Now most of us get at least two weeks holiday and many of us get more. Most of the attractions set up for Bank holidays are set up with the idea of making money and forcing us to travel. The rest of the year promoters and organisers have to put up with the whim of the user.

Do we really need to travel? Have they never heard of TV or DVD? I am quite aware that many people cannot substitute the live show, but that is their choice. The other factor, the need for maintenance is largely the fault of the Government past and present who never invested enough. Get that right and you have less disruption
Tony, Welling, Kent

I personally think that the rail companies did the right thing in their interests. They would be dammed if any accidents did happen if this work had not been carried out. They do not want to shut during the week as their most loyal and busiest times are by people who travel everyday to work using the train, so naturally you think to inconvenience the people who do not use it that often. They are just doing what ever company would do, taking care of their more regular customers. What they really need is a government to subsidise the railway as you have the rail companies trying to put you off travelling by rail and a government trying to do the total opposite. There needs to be an agreement of what type of travel they would like us to take and improve it.
Nina, England

Quite frankly I'm amazed at the number of people who go away on a bank holiday weekend, they're all mad if you ask me. You almost invariably get stuck in traffic on the roads or are delayed by engineering works on the railway, so my advice is to stay at home and have a nice quiet weekend.
Steve, UK

Personally, I think it is a great plan! I live close to a train line and it's been so wonderful and peaceful this weekend. I could get really used to it. The big concern is even when they've done all these repairs there are still loads more to do ... whatever they do people will whinge away - it's what the British public do best. Make the most of it ... at least you will all be safer in the future!
Jason, UK

It is unacceptable that the few trains they were running were not in proper working order Elizabeth, Scotland

Yesterday it took me over eight hours to travel for Kings Cross to Leuchars. I took the only train that did not require me to catch a bus between Newark and Doncaster, only to hear that the train would terminate at York. I appreciate that the engineering work was necessary, although I believe the inconvenience of changing to a bus is less if you're only carrying a briefcase than if you're travelling with luggage. However, it is unacceptable that GNER did not ensure that the few trains they were running were in proper working order. The reason for my "unnecessary" journey - my best friend's wedding. Maybe I should have been more organized - asked her to hold it another weekend or something?
Elizabeth, Scotland

The railways can't win whatever they do so shut up whingeing - accept the work has to be done and get on with life.
John, UK

Its a shame that we invented the train and we have the worlds worst overpriced rail system. I have been to many places in Europe where the trains are cheaper, they run on time and are better quality. what went wrong?
David Clark, UK

The reality is that EVERY bank holiday weekend is busy. No matter which one Network Rail chose for its maintenance program, there would be some large event happening.

Save yourselves some time: stop moaning and get organised! Alex s, UK

As with so much in life, this is a trade off: you want safe track and maintenance to go ahead rather than accidents and delays in the future, so you need to be prepared to make alternate travel arrangements or not go to your chosen event. Plenty of notice has been given, so I'd say there's no argument. Save yourselves some time: stop moaning and get organised!
Alex s, UK

Last year I spent almost 9 hours going from Warwick to North Devon in hideous traffic. This year I am visiting my Brother in Switzerland - a journey that at 5 hours door to door will take considerably less time...
Nick Wake, UK

I have just travelled from Odessa on the Black Sea to Moscow - a journey of some 27 hours. The train arrived in Moscow on time, to the minute.
Rod, Russia/UK

Thankfully I'm not travelling this weekend. If the trains aren't delayed because of poor maintenance they are delayed or cancelled because of maintenance. Why can't these lazy good for nothing engineers do their work at night when the trains aren't running? That's what they do in other countries and they don't have to live with this legacy of a pathetic hopeless service with equally pathetic people running it.
Nick, UK

I would like to answer Nick, UK. The 'lazy good for nothing' engineers do work through the night to repair the rail lines. My bedroom is within thirty yards of a rail line and sleep is impossible when track maintenance is in progress. My wife is a nurse and had to be awake at 6.00am Sunday to be on duty for 7.00am. Tell me Nick, would you or a loved one like to have life saving care from a nurse who was dog-tired from yet another sleepless night due to rail maintenance? Let all maintenance be done during daylight hours and stop worrying about weekends and bank holidays!!
David, Close to a rail track in England

Sometimes you need days not hours Mark, UK

What a refreshing change to see most people below in agreement with the work being carried out. In response to Nick, these "lazy good for nothing engineers" do most of their work at night; let's consider replacing one mile of track in the time between the last train at say 00.30 and the first train at 05.30, that's ignoring the freight. I would like to see you manage it. Sometimes you need days not hours and perhaps even daylight. (I have been a railwayman for 22 years). Most people in this country do not live in London or travel through Reading.
Mark, UK

Thank you so much BIG BUSINESS Britain. As long as we can all get to work on Monday morning who cares that one of the few times in the year we can get out with our families and take advantage of three days of lovely weather has been ruined by FAT CAT greed heads?
ML, UK

I am glad they try to do works over the weekend Wayne M, UK

I don't understand what all the fuss is about - I commute from Rugby to Euston daily, I am glad they try to do works over the weekend. The upgrade works will allow trains to run faster on the West Coast line which will allow my journey times to be reduced. I think the media will always sensationalise railway news - I honestly think it is good value, though there is some room for improvements.
Wayne M, UK

There will be enough people whining and moaning on this board so can I be the exception please? I just took a First Great Western from Plymouth into London Paddington. I never take the train and after reading your reports I was somewhat apprehensive about the journey. The journey, however, was pleasant, the train clean and on time and the staff was exceptionally friendly and helpful. Well worth the �29 I paid!
Matt, UK

Look, you can't have it both ways. People are always moaning about the railways, about the state of disrepair they have fallen in to. Maintenance has to go on at some stage, and bank holiday weekends are favoured by the train companies as it cuts down on disruption through the week. Plenty of notice has been given, so if travellers can't get themselves organised, find a different route or method of transport, then I have no sympathy.
Anonymous, UK

I live in London and work in Reading. Due to the festival, this route is even more busy than usual. Normally, the trains would be in chaos just because of that. Now add to that the bank holiday and (possibly) good weather and everything else around it would collapse. Probably it's a good thing they closed the line. Network Rail must have realised that there was no way they could have coped with a combination of the three aforementioned conditions.
Tanja, UK

It's a fact of life that the railways need ongoing maintenance to keep them operable Martin, UK

We complain when the rails break, we complain when the rails buckle, we complain when the trains are delayed. It's a fact of life that the railways need ongoing maintenance to keep them operable. Personally I think the choice to upset what are probably irregular weekend social travellers rather than ongoing mass disruption for regular commuters in peak periods is an entirely sensible decision.
Martin, UK

My boyfriend and I are facing very round-about, long journeys from the north-west to London this weekend and next weekend. It's frustrating that Network Rail choose one of the year's busiest weekends to carry out repairs, but at least they are carrying them out! All I've heard in the media is disgruntlement and astonishment - it'd be useful to hear what these repairs actually are and how they will benefit rail users.

Perhaps then we'll appreciate how the rail system is being improved. This weekend's transport chaos is in part due to us having little alternative to road or rail - why aren't there more budget airlines serving routes within the UK? I hope Easyjet realise how many hundreds of thousands they will have lost by discontinuing their Luton - Liverpool service.
Emma-Jane, UK

My son lives in Northampton and along with a lot of his friends has purchased an advance ticket for the Reading festival on Sunday. By the time he will get there, travelling by train it will be time to head back! No fun and no compensation!
R Streamer, England

There are 2 ways to reduce complaints during bank holiday weekends: shut down the train lines during the week (which I'm sure would create far more complaints!) or just stay local and enjoy the extra day off work instead of getting stressed with travel. Surely the more complaints the train companies have to deal with the less time they have to concentrate on improving the system for the benefit of everyone?
Andy, UK

Everyone agrees that our rail infrastructure is in need of serious updating, so why complain when Network Rail tries to carry out some much needed work! The timing is only a matter of simple economics, Network Rail pays less in fines to train companies on bank holidays than on weekdays, and less passengers are disrupted on bank holiday. This seems like common sense to me! I think that Network Rail is just an easy target right now. How about blaming the government for the state of our rail industry?
John Anderson, England

I think the media are wrong Phillip Holley, London

What a good time to do it. There have been notices for ages. For once I think the media are wrong. If they need to do the work then at least they are doing it on a weekend when there a few deadlines for people and the hard pressed commuter is safely at home.
Phillip Holley, London

Why are people complaining, every weekend we have track closures, and these have been advertised for ages? This weekend will allow the maintenance teams three whole days to do the job. Something that doesn't happen often without delaying the commuter trains.
Ryan Cullen, England

I travel by motorcycle. If others wish to get involved in the travel chaos, that's their choice!
Elwin Tennant, England

Here we go again - whether it is the hottest weather ever or we have a long Bank Holiday weekend coming up - all we get is negative headlines complaining about this or that! Why can't we have some optimistic happy headlines for once? Eg - We are looking forward to the long bank holiday - and it's going to be a hot and sunny one!! Come on guys - lighten up sometimes!
Simon Jeffery, UK

I've known about this for over a month now... notices were posted onto their websites when I tried to make a booking for this weekend and as a consequence I made alternative travel arrangements. Why has the press only picked this up today?
Manoj Patel, UK

Virgin trains failed to let me know when I purchased tickets to Wales for the weekend Anne, UK

Manoj Patel may have been aware a month ago of this disruption but Virgin trains failed to let me know when I purchased tickets to Wales for the weekend. Despite Virgin's recommendation on their phone travel information that they recommend I do not travel unless essential it is doubtful whether I will be eligible for a refund despite being told that I would have serious problems returning on Monday. I am totally fed up with rail travel. I do not currently have a car but am seriously considering buying one. This has been the final straw!
Anne, UK

There should be some kind of communication between the people who manage the rail networks and those who manage the road network Robert Bebson, England

It's not just that it's a bank holiday weekend but that there's so many events going on this weekend that make it such a bad idea to do it. I understand for commuting reasons it's better to do it at the weekend but why couldn't it have been done last weekend or next weekend? I think there should be some kind of communication going on between the people who manage the rail networks and those who manage the road networks so repairs and whatever can be done at the best possible time.
Robert Bebson, England

I just wanted to say "thank you Network Rail" as I now have to drive to Reading Festival! I understand the need for the work but surely better planning and at least checking what events are going on would have been the intelligent thing to do?!
Andy, UK

I personally am not affected by the engineering works on the rail network over the bank holiday weekend, although I can appreciate that large numbers of people will be inconvenienced. However, I am a regular business traveller on the rail system, and these improvements will benefit everybody in the long run. Surely it's worth a little bit of inconvenience to make sure that we have a usable rail system, both now and in the future.
Adrian, UK

I find it absolutely amazing how they still sell tickets for journeys that are almost impossible to take, my friend is supposed to be visiting her boyfriend in Woking for the weekend, she has a train ticket that cost almost �40 and currently has no idea whether she will be able to get there, of course you can't get hold of anyone at rail enquiries to find anything out. I only hope she will be able to get a refund.
Liz, Cardiff, UK

As usual, its headline news because the trains out of London are affected. There have been NO trains at all between Stafford and Cheadle Hulme for 3 months now. As a result Stoke Station has been shut for 3 months and will be for a further month. No mention of that in your "list" of chaos.
Ian, UK

Great that maintenance is taking place - the timing could have been better though L da Silva, Reading, UK

I planned to visit London this weekend but will now stay at home. No hard earned dineros from me, then. On the flipside, I'd rather not be in a train that is derailed in a year's time because the track was faulty. Great that maintenance is taking place - the timing could have been better though, especially with the Reading Festival happening this weekend. Who's in charge of setting up these work schedules anyway?
L da Silva, Reading, UK

Either people in this country want the appalling state of the railways sorted out or they don't. If anyone can come up with a way of sorting them out which causes no inconvenience to anyone, then I'm sure Network Rail would love to hear from you. There's people who have to work on bank holidays who I'm sure would gladly swap with anyone who's moaning about the lack of a train service this coming weekend.
Matt, UK

Ever since moving to Bournemouth at the age of 15, I have made a point of NEVER travelling on a bank holiday weekend. My plans for this weekend involve a leisurely bike ride to a couple of country pubs followed by lazing in the garden with a book and a beer. You can keep the bank holiday crowds!
Mike Smith, UK

Who took the decision to do this work this weekend? If you could pick one weekend of the entire year when people will be wanting to use the trains it would be this one. A blindfolded monkey sticking a pin into the calendar could not have come up with a worse weekend to do it. I am faced with a five hour return journey from Chester to London with a minimum of three changes. And it is a journey to a friend's wedding which I can't miss. Thanks very much to whomever it was that took this decision.
Jon Haley, London, UK

I'm going away for the bank holiday. I never use trains for this kind of thing but really don't need the extra masses cramming onto the roads. No matter, I know the back roads so I won't be fighting with the crowds on the M3 anyway. Normally they are slower, but they don't have three lanes of stationary traffic as far as you can see, so this weekend they'll be quicker!
John B, UK

I want to travel to Brighton by rail on Sunday. Can someone please confirm there are no disruptions on this day?
Chris Ebrahim, England

It's going to take my wife 5.5 hours to travel from Essex to Yorkshire on the train this weekend. The normal journey time is 3.5 to 4 hours. It's disgraceful that they choose to do this type of work over the bank holiday weekend when many more people travel than on a normal weekend. Why not use night and normal weekends to complete the work?
Mark Brookes, UK

I couldn't care less. I'm going to Singapore this weekend. Only three hours to work. Yippee.
Amanda, England