Network Rail has revealed plans for maintenance work at weekends in February and March on c2c.

Engineers will carry out the work along the Essex Thameside line over three consecutive weekends:

• Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 February
• Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 February
• Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 March.

Workers will rebuild a retaining wall around a drainage culvert at Upminster, which will help to maintain stability and keep trains operating safely.

They will also manage lineside vegetation at Basildon station. This will reduce the risk of trees falling onto the line, and will reduce the volume of leaf fall in the area.

This should reduce disruption caused by train wheels skidding on leaves.

Workers will also carry out repairs at Chalkwell station, and will remove redundant materials

Other teams will repair track defects and at Chalkwell station and carry out general maintenance of the track

Buses will replace trains on parts of the c2c network while the work is being carried out. Advice will also be available on alternative routes.

Passengers can check how their journeys are affected by National Rail Enquiries or via the c2c website. 

The work will help keep services running reliably on c2c, which is due to return to public ownership in July this year.

“A well-maintained railway enables safety and efficiency. While closing parts of a busy line isn’t ideal, these improvements are essential for both passenger and freight services. We thank passengers for their patience during these necessary works.”

Mark Walker, Network Rail Anglia route infrastructure engineer