Improvement works are continuing on the Midland Mainline on weekends throughout late March, with passengers being reminded by train companies to check their services before they travel.
On 17, 23 & 24 March track is to be renewed between Syston and Helpston. These works will contribute to future greener and smoother train travel in the central Midlands. Cross Country services will be affected on these 3 days, where replacement buses will be in operation between Leicester and Peterborough.
In addition to this, buses will also replace all trains once more between Luton and Bedford over the weekend of Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 March. This is to enable future proofing of the overhead powerlines through the area to enable 125mph trains to run on the line in the coming years.
Thameslink trains will be running to a revised timetable south of Luton and on through central London, while East Midlands Railway services will run between St Pancras and Luton, with all southbound services from the Midlands terminating at Bedford, where passengers will have to change onto a replacement bus to Luton, before continuing by train to London St Pancras.
Over the last few weekends, work on the Midland Mainline has seen installation of new overhead power lines between Kettering and Wigston, while replacement of existing power lines has been undertaken between Luton and Bedford, with additional maintenance taking place on the Thameslink lines.
Over the following weekend 23 & 24 March work will continue on the overhead powerline upgrades at Bedford while the replacement of points and crossings takes place at Luton.
- Thameslink services will once more be revised, running only as far as Harpenden from out of London and will not be calling at London Bridge. Customers wishing to travel from Harpenden to Luton or Bedford will have the option of catching a replacement bus, which will be in operation.
- East Midlands Railway services will not run between St Pancras and Bedford, with passengers being encouraged to travel on Thameslink services from Kings Cross to Hitchin, where a rail replacement bus will connect passengers to EMR services at Bedford, for those travelling to the central city's of the Midlands.
Gavin Crook, Principal Programme Sponsor for Network Rail's East Midlands route, said: “Over the last few weekends, we have carried out vital upgrade work to different parts of the network to enhance the journeys of passengers, resulting in a greener, faster, and more reliable railway. Engineers will be working around the clock throughout the next two weekends in March to carry out further essential upgrades to the Midland Main Line. We want to thank all passengers for their patience and understanding and encourage them to check before they travel via National Rail Enquiries or their train operator to ensure they are aware of any impact on their journeys.”
Jenny Saunders, Customer Services Director for Govia Thameslink Railway, said: “We also thank our customers for their patience and understanding while Network Rail carry out vital modernisation along this important route. We're running replacement buses to help passengers complete their journeys, which means those journeys will take longer than normal, so we advise everyone to plan ahead and re-check their schedules before setting off.”
Those wishing to travel on the Midland Mainline over the next two weekends, please check National Rail Enquiries or your train operator for information and alternative journey routes.
I think it will be better off electrifying the whole of the Midland Main Line from Market Harborough to Nottingham, Derby and Sheffield with Class 810 IETs expected to enter service sometime later this year.