Trains will also be affected by track renewals between Carstairs and Lanark in Scotland, while there will be significant changes to services on the Great Eastern Main Line because of work building a new station at Beaulieu Park to the east of Chelmsford.
Network Rail said that it often carries out major engineering work over bank holiday periods to reduce the number of passengers impacted.
Meanwhile, the RAC has predicted more than 20 million leisure trips by car will be made between Friday and bank holiday Monday.
The worst day to travel is likely to be Friday, because the start of the long weekend coincides with the beginning of half-term for many schools.
The transport analytics company Inrix warned that journeys on the M25 clockwise between Junction 7 for the M23 and Junction 21 for the M1 are expected to be delayed by more than 90 minutes in the late afternoon on Friday.
Delays are anticipated to reach an hour on a 45-mile southbound stretch of the M5 – a popular holiday route – from Junction 16 north of Bristol to Junction 25 for Taunton, Somerset.
The aviation analytics company Cirium said that Friday is the busiest day of the year for UK airports since October 2019, with more than 3,150 departing flights.
A total of 8,486 flights are scheduled to depart between Saturday and Monday, equating to more than 1.5 million seats.
The most popular international destinations for UK departures are Dublin, Amsterdam, Palma, Alicante and Malaga.
The Met Office is forecasting a “typical springtime mix of weather” in the UK with sunshine, showers and some longer spells of rain over the bank holiday period.
‘Doing all we can’
A Network Rail spokesman said: “We were made aware overnight of signalling issues on the line between Birmingham New Street and Wolverhampton.
“We found damaged cables near to Sandwell and Dudley station, which is the cause of these problems.
“We have been working all day to identify the extent of the damage and to carry out repairs. These are ongoing and we are doing all we can to reopen the line as quickly as possible.
“We are working with train operators to keep as many trains on the move and are sorry for the delay and disruption caused.
“Passengers should check before they travel with National Rail Enquiries or their train operator for the latest information.”