This Sunday (28th September), emergency work to replace a faulty rail between Chadwell Heath and Shenfield will be carried out by Network Rail.

Just outside Gidea Park Station, there is an affected section of rail that allows trains to switch lines, and one of the sleepers is also deteriorating.

There is a 20 mph speed restriction in place until the fault is fixed, and engineers will be closely monitoring the section until Sunday to ensure the safety of trains and everyone on board.

The work needs to be completed as soon as possible, as if engineers were to wait until another time, the speed restriction could be required to be lowered to 5mph, or the line could have been closed at very short notice.

Carrying out the work on Sunday prevents further unplanned disruption over a longer time period.

For Greater Anglia services, there will be no services between London Liverpool Street and Shenfield, with buses operating between Newbury Park Tube Station and Shenfield/Ingatestone.

Passengers who are travelling on the Southend Victoria and Southminster line are advised to change and Shenfield, and those heading to/from Colchester and Clacton-on-Sea should change at Ingatestone.

Other pre-planned works also mean that replacement buses will be in place between Colchester – Ipswich and Colchester – Harwich Town.

For c2c services on Sunday, buses will replace trains from Leigh-on-Sea to Shoeburyness.

Lastly, the Elizabeth line will have buses replacing trains between Chadwell Heath and Shenfield, with a reduced service of four trains per hour between Seven Kings and Chadwell Heath.

“We are really sorry for the disruption this is going to cause to passengers at short notice. Our engineers have been keeping a very close eye on the faulty rail and sleeper, and the repair now can’t wait any longer. This work will help us to avoid a much more disruptive speed restriction or prolonged line closure in future. Thank you everyone for bearing with us.”

Simon Milburn, infrastructure director for Network Rail Anglia