Planned upgrades to affect Great Northern and Thameslink services on two consecutive weekends in early January

Network Rail have issued the following press release about planned engineering work affecting Great Northern and Thameslink services over two January weekends:

Network Rail, Thameslink and Great Northern are reminding passengers to check their journey before travelling as further engineering work is carried out on two weekends in early January as part of the billion-pound East Coast Digital Programme.

• Work is progressing well on the billion-pound East Coast Digital Programme with upgrades being carried out further up the East Coast Main Line line, affecting journeys between London and Peterborough, Ely and King’s Lynn
• No trains will run between London and Peterborough, Letchworth Garden City or Stevenage via Hertford North on 6 / 7 and 13 / 14 January
• A limited rail replacement bus service will be in place on these weekends
• Passengers reminded to check their journey before travelling on the affected weekends

Network Rail engineers will be working on the East Coast Main Line, between London King’s Cross and Peterborough, as well as between King’s Cross, Finsbury Park, and Moorgate over the weekends of the 6 / 7 January and 13 / 14 January, meaning there will be no train services between London and Peterborough, Letchworth Garden City and Stevenage via Hertford North.

On the two weekends, an extremely limited rail replacement bus service will run for passengers travelling between:

• Peterborough and Bedford (for trains to London St Pancras)
• Peterborough and Hitchin (calling at all stations)
• Letchworth Garden City and Hitchin
• Luton Airport Parkway and Stevenage calling at Hitchin
• St Albans and Hitchin calling at Welwyn Garden City, Welwyn North, Knebworth and Stevenage
• Alexandra Palace and Welwyn Garden City calling all stations except Hadley Wood, with an additional stop at Cockfosters to connect with London Underground Piccadilly line trains*.
• Cockfosters and Potters Bar calling at Hadley Wood*
• Alexandra Palace and Stevenage via Hertford North

* On Sunday 7 January, due a planned Tube strike, passengers are being advised by London Underground to complete their journeys on the Piccadilly line by 17:30

Ticket acceptance will be in place on the following alternative routes:

• Thameslink services between Bedford and London St Pancras via Luton Airport Parkway
• Greater Anglia services between London Liverpool Street and Cambridge

Great Northern services will run between Letchworth Garden City and Cambridge, Ely and King’s Lynn.

During the work, teams will be carrying out further improvements to the trackwork in the area, adjusting overhead line equipment, and testing newly installed cabling and equipment that will make the new system function.

The ECDP will see traditional, lineside signals removed and replaced with signalling displayed inside drivers’ cabs. The change will lead to more reliable journeys for passengers and a greener railway.

At the same time, a separate project will be focusing on improving mobile phone signal inside the tunnels at the mouth of King’s Cross station. The jointly funded project will deliver better mobile phone connectivity for passengers as they travel in and out of King’s Cross by train.

Passengers are encouraged to check their journey before travelling over the affected weekends via National Rail Enquiries or their train operator.

Ricky Barsby, Head of Access and Integration for East Coast Digital Programme, said: “Work is progressing well on this pioneering project and we continue to prepare the way for changing the way train services operate on the East Coast Main Line.

“This work has been scheduled years in advance and while we never want to disrupt passengers’ journeys, these upgrades are vital to delivering a more resilient, more reliable and greener railway for the future.

“We want to thank passengers for their patience and understanding and encourage them to check their journey before travelling.”

Jenny Saunders, Customer Services Director for GTR, said: "We are sorry that some of our customers travelling between London and Peterborough or King’s Lynn will have more difficult journeys during the first two weekends in January.

“We expect the rail replacement bus services over these weekends to be busy and customers may have to queue. We’re therefore encouraging our customers to leave extra time to complete their journeys – as well as checking trains before setting out for the station.

“As ever, we’d like to thank our customers for their patience while this vital work is carried out to make our rail network more reliable and resilient.”

There will be further ECDP work taking place in February between Saturday 17 and Tuesday 20, with buses replacing trains. Further information can be found via National Rail Enquiries.