Lancashire residents are being warned about disruption to road and rail services in Cumbria in January 2026.

Network Rail is replacing Clifton Bridge near Penrith in Cumbria and to accomplish this, the motorway will be closed between junctions 39 and 40 on two consecutive weekends, between:

• 8pm on Friday 2nd January and 5am on Monday 5th January 2026. 

• 8pm on Friday 9th January and 5am Monday 12th January 2026. 

Clearly signed road diversions will be in place, but significant delays are anticipated.

A spokesperson from National Highways said: "We’re strongly urging drivers to avoid this section of the M6 and use other routes.

"If that’s not possible, please plan ahead and allow extra time."

The work also has a major impact on rail services with Chris Liptrot, operations director at Avanti West Coast, saying: “While Network Rail carries out essential work to replace the bridge, we will operate an amended timetable. 

“Some journeys between the North West, Carlisle, and Scotland will involve changes onto a shuttle service as well as rail replacement buses. We strongly advise customers to plan ahead and check their journey before travelling.” 

William Brandon, Network Rail’s project manager, said: “This ambitious project will provide a vital upgrade to the West Coast Main Line and improve reliability and journey times for passengers. 

“While we close the railway to replace the M6 bridge we’ll also be renewing more than 80 kilometres of overhead lines and continuing our major modernisation of signalling systems. We appreciate passengers’ patience while this work is completed, and I would urge anyone planning to travel in this period to check National Rail Enquiries in advance.”