Due to a number of major upgrades to the Midland Main Line, there will be severe disruption to train services between London St. Pancras and Luton on weekends in November.
The upgrades include the development of a new station at Brent Cross West, a new footbridge at St. Albans City station, and upgrades to the overhead power lines south of Bedford.
Because of the upgrades, no passenger trains will run between St Pancras and Luton on Saturdays 5th/12th and Sundays 6th/13th November. There will also be a very limited Luton service on Saturday, 10th and Sunday, 11th December.
The following changes to services will apply on the affected weekends:
East Midlands Railway:
Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th November
- Services between Nottingham / Sheffield and London St Pancras International will start / terminate at Luton.
- Services between Corby and London St Pancras International will start / terminate at Kettering / Wellingborough.
- Rail replacement buses will run between Luton and Hitchin.
Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th November
- Services will start / terminate at Luton.
- Rail replacement buses will run between Luton and Hitchin.
Thameslink:
Saturdays 5th/12th and Sundays 6th/13th November
Replacement buses are planned to run between:
- Luton and West Hampstead Thameslink, calling at all stations via Harpenden;
- Luton Airport Parkway and Hitchin via Luton for connections with alternative Thameslink or Great Northern services to/from central London;
- Harpenden and Potters Bar for connections with alternative Thameslink or Great Northern services to/from central London
Gary Walsh, East Midlands Route Director for Network Rail, said: “We're making great progress on three important projects, which will ultimately bring better journeys for passengers travelling on the southern end of the Midland Main Line.
“I know that many people will be travelling on Sunday 13 November to pay their respects on Remembrance Sunday, and I'm very sorry if our work interrupts your plans. Some of this work was rescheduled to allow people to travel to London for Her Majesty The Queen's funeral in September.
“We have worked closely with our train operating colleagues to carefully replan this major work, but it will still impact passengers' journeys. Our best advice is to plan ahead, check before you travel and allow extra time.”
Neil Grabham, Customer Services Director for EMR said: “We are asking any customers planning to travel to or from London over these three weekends to plan ahead and allow plenty of time to complete their journeys.
“We have a reduced train service operating on both our Intercity route and our Connect route, rail replacement buses will be in place between Luton and Hitchin in both directions. Full details can be found on the EMR website.
“We would like to thank our passengers for their patience whilst the engineering work along the Midland Main Line is taking place.”
Jenny Saunders, Customer Services Director for Thameslink and Great Northern, said: “Network Rail's large-scale improvement projects will bring a range of benefits for our customers and we've worked closely together to minimise the inevitable inconvenience over these three weekends. Replacement buses will be operating to help people complete their journeys, so please plan ahead and allow plenty of extra time.”
Perhaps Network Rail needs to spend more money on improving Luton railway station with a redevelopment of the station and new footbridge+lifts and better access for the station that serves Luton town centre. As Luton station is in need of a massive improvement.
St Albans gets another footbridge.
Harpenden which has a much lower population than Luton had an accessible bridge in 2013.
Still only 1 accessible platform out of 5 at Luton…
Stop spending money in the posh places and let the disabled of Luton actually get on a train for goodness sake!