Passengers are urged to plan ahead and avoid busy times as London journeys are affected by important railway upgrades over the next two weekends.
There will be no East Midlands Railway trains south of Bedford on 24-25 May and 31 May-1 June, and no Thameslink trains between Bedford and Harpenden/Mill Hill Broadway. Passengers will need to take rail replacement buses and should check online at nationalrail.co.uk.
The work will be the last in a series of nine weekends since February to upgrade the overhead lines that power trains between Bedford and London.
This investment is crucial for the introduction of EMR’s new greener fleet of bi-mode trains. The improvements also mean smoother and more reliable journeys for Thameslink passengers and everyone travelling between South Yorkshire, the East Midlands, and London.
New drainage systems will also be installed, signal and communications equipment refurbished, and track maintained.
On Saturday 24 May, services are expected to by particularly busy as Sheffield United fans travel to Wembley for the Championship Play-Off Final, which kicks off at 3pm.
There will also be Sunderland supporters heading to the same fixture, and music festivals at Stevenage and Hatfield, which will make alternative routes into London King’s Cross very busy.
Fans should allow extra time to get to and from Wembley, while other passengers might consider travelling at times likely to have less football traffic.
Dan Matthews, Network Rail head of operations delivery, said: “We’re continuing to make great progress on transforming the Midland Main Line, and this run of weekend working enabled major steps to be taken.
“Our engineers are carrying out upgrades to the overhead power lines which will make services more reliable and enable the introduction of EMRs new trains. We’re also installing new drainage and maintaining track.
“We know this work can be disruptive for passengers. We’re sorry to those whose journeys will be affected but ask passengers to bear with us and plan ahead while we carry out these essential upgrades.”
Image credit: Network Rail
