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Easter travel: What you need to know

About 11 million cars are expected to take to the roads on Thursday as the Easter holiday getaway begins.

The AA has estimated about half of all drivers will be on the road as holidaymakers mix with school and commuter traffic.

Roadworks across 97% of the motorway and A-roads were due to be finished or lifted by 06:00, but 57 sets will stay in place for safety reasons.

Engineering work will affect about 5% of rail routes over the next week.

The ^60m investment is being made because school holidays are traditionally quieter.

Meanwhile, Heathrow Airport is expected to see 850,000 people travel through it this weekend.

Some 200,000 more families than usual will use it over Easter.

Rail disruption

More than 450 rail engineering projects are being carried out from late on Thursday over the Easter holidays. Network Rail said it had chosen now because fewer than half of the usual 4.5 million passengers are using the railways. It has warned people to check before they travel.

Work will mean reduced services on the Brighton main line while two of four lines will shut between London Paddington and Reading.

Services between Wolverhampton and Birmingham are also disrupted until the end of Wednesday 30 March, with London Midland running replacement bus services.

No rail services at all are running to or from Salford Central or Manchester Victoria until Monday 4 April. Replacement buses will be in use and trams will still run.

Services to Heathrow Airport will be reduced from four an hour to two on Saturday and Easter Monday.

Rail disruption over Easter
- 450 separate engineering projects
- ^60m being spent over the four-day Easter weekend
- 15,000 staff working
- 95% of network promised to be open as normal
- 11 days of closure for Manchester Victoria and Salford Central stations
Source: Network Rail