Network Rail will carry out work over Christmas to prepare the Midland Main Line for electrification between Kettering and Wigston, and is advising passengers to check before travelling on 27 December.
Electrifying the line between London St Pancras and the East Midlands will enable operators to run bi-mode trains, which are faster and smoother and have a less adverse effect on the environment.
Workers will install overhead line equipment and will finish installing a Permanently Earthed Section (PES) at Kettering North Junction – a section of overhead line which electricity does not run through because it is kept permanently earthed. This will keep workers safe while they work on overhead lines, by preventing power straying from adjacent sections of overhead line that are already live. Network Rail will remove the PES before it energises the Kettering-to-Wigston section of the line later in 2024.
Engineers will carry out most of the work while passenger trains are not running on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. However, the complex nature of the work means that it will continue on Wednesday 27 December, which will affect services between Corby and Wellingborough.
Buses will replace trains on 27 December between Leicester and Kettering via Market Harborough.
On Christmas Day and Boxing Day, Network Rail will also renew a section of overhead line between Hendon and Mill Hill as part of its work to upgrade the power supply south of Bedford, which will allow trains to run at 125mph.
Gavin Crook, Principal Programme Sponsor for Network Rail's East Midlands Route, said: “We appreciate there is never a good time to disrupt journeys and whenever possible we complete our work at times when there are significantly fewer people travelling by train. By completing this work over Christmas, we affect passengers for one day, instead of three.
“We are sorry for the disruption this will cause and ask passengers to check their journey before setting off on 27 December.”
Dave Meredith, Customer Services Director at East Midlands Railway, said: “This work is a vital step in electrifying the Midland Main Line and another big green investment in the region's infrastructure.
“We would like to apologise to any customers affected by the works and would urge them to double check their journey if they intend on travelling on December 27.
“To help keep people on the move, buses will replace trains between Kettering and Leicester via Market Harborough – as well as between Wellingborough and Leicester. An amended train service will also run between London St Pancras International and Wellingborough, Corby and Sheffield, Leicester and Nottingham, and Leicester and Sheffield.”
Why not just extend the electrification to as far as Loughborough and for Class 810 Aurora trains to switch from AC 25kv OHL to diesel. Once the new trains have been built and are in service.