article: Hundreds of thousands of football fans are facing travel misery this weekend because of the Easter rail shut down. Despite more than 30 Premiership and Championship games scheduled for the long weekend, large parts of the rail network are set to be closed for repair works. More than half the games are set to be affected by delays and disruption, forcing fans onto the roads. This weekend's crunch Premiership fixture, Arsenal versus Liverpool in London, will be hit by the rail chaos . Labour has accused the Government of failing to learn from the Boxing Day chaos, when nearly a million football fans faced nightmare journeys to follow their team. Ministers were warned of the potential problems in advance Labour has claimed – but they failed to scrutinise the planned level of maintenance work. Every single major artery on Britain's railways was shut down. No trains ran between England and Scotland or Wales on the East Coast, West Coast or Great Western mainlines. The Midland, Cross Country and East Anglia were also shut. Despite the chaos the Government has refused to step in this weekend to stop large parts of the rail network shutting down again. The planned engineering works over the Easter weekend will hit all routes to and from London Euston – hitting the busy west coast services between the capital and Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool. There will be no mainline trains at all from Paddington out towards Swindon, Bristol and Cardiff and further disruptions on lines from London Bridge. All trains out of London Euston - serving the main west coast rail line between the capital and Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool - have been hit . Trains between Milton Keynes Central and Clapham Junction are also affected as well as those traveling on the line between London Paddington and Greenford, Slough and Windsor & Eton Central, Maidenhead and Marlow, Twyford and Henley-on-Thames . All routes to and from Reading are also hit, with Charing Cross trains to Kent and routes to East Anglia from London Liverpool Street also affected. It means there will no trains for fans wanting to travel to the Reading versus Cardiff City match in Berkshire – forcing supporters onto the roads on replacement bus services instead. There will also be no trains available for the thousands of Liverpool fans wanting to get home after the Arsenal versus Liverpool match on Saturday. Michael Dugher, the Shadow Transport Secretary, said accused ministers or being too 'out of touch' with ordinary football fans to understand the chaos the rail shutdown will cause. Shadow transport minister Michael Dugher said the Government had not learned from past mistakes . He said: 'Just like on Boxing Day, hundreds of thousands of people will want to travel to see family and also to follow their football team on one of the busiest fixture lists of the season. 'Ministers were asleep on the job over the Christmas period and there is little to suggest they have learnt from their mistakes. 'We have seen no evidence that Ministers have adequately scrutinised the level of planned engineering works or ensured that the necessary contingency plans are in place. 'As usual, it will be hard-pressed passengers - who've already seen their fares go up by more than 20 per cent on average since 2010 - who will suffer.' Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin has admitted there will be 'frustrations' on rail services this weekend and urged people to 'think twice' before travelling. Mr McLoughlin said: 'There will be alternatives and we've lifted almost all motorway roadworks to help. 'But if you are travelling between Friday and Monday night please check your journey first, it may be that you'll think twice about how you travel. 'I'm sorry if it is more difficult - but my promise is that the work is essential and when it's done the benefits will be worthwhile.' A spokesman for Network Rail said over the past three months they have contacted both the FA and every individual Premiership club to ensure they’re aware about the disruption. A Conservative spokesman said the Easter weekend was a 'sensible' time to carry out the repair work. He said: 'Thanks to this government's successful management of our economy we have been able to commit £38billion to upgrading our national rail infrastructure, after 13 years of Labour neglect. 'The £100million of upgrades this Easter is the biggest set of works ever carried out over a long weekend. With passenger numbers down 40 per cent it is a sensible time to do these works, they will unblock current bottlenecks and deliver a better railway for passengers. 'Labour need to get real, they can either support the long overdue upgrade of our national rail network or plunge it back into long term decline. 'On the 7th of May voters will have a clear choice between the Conservative Party securing our country's long term future or a Labour party that will bring chaos.'
highlights: Over 30 Premiership and Championship games scheduled this weekend .
  More than half the games are set to be affected by delays and disruption .
  Engineering works affect routes to  London Euston, hitting west coast line .
  Labour say ministers have failed to learn from the Boxing Day chaos .
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