Passengers are reminded that digital signalling work will affect East Coast Main Line journeys on the August bank holiday weekend.
There will be an amended service between London King’s Cross and Peterborough because of testing and maintenance work as part of the £1.4bn East Coast Digital Programme (ECDP).
Most of the timetable changes occur on Sunday 24 August – but some services will be affected late on Saturday 23 August or early on Monday 25 August.
ECDP testing is taking place between Welwyn Garden City and Hitchin in Hertfordshire, along with further work on trackside equipment. Passenger services are expected to begin using digital signalling through the Welwyn to Hitchin section in 2026.
Other work taking place while trains are not running includes:
- Further progress on the Access for All project to provide a new footbridge and lifts at Biggleswade station
- Renewal of overhead line equipment to improve resilience of the line between Sandy and Huntingdon
- Removal of redundant materials in areas south of Peterborough
- Various maintenance tasks along the line
LNER will be operate an amended service starting and terminating at Peterborough, with some other service alterations across the weekend. Customers are encouraged to use the rail replacement coaches which will run between Peterborough and Bedford, allowing them to join Thameslink services to London St Pancras.
Lumo will operate an amended service to and from Peterborough with most services starting/terminating at Newcastle. A non-stop rail replacement coach will be provided for Lumo customers between London King’s Cross and Peterborough.
There will be no Grand Central services, and Hull Trains will run an amended timetable diverting to and from London St Pancras.
There will be no Thameslink or Great Northern trains between Potters Bar and Peterborough or Royston, or between Hertford North and Stevenage. Additionally, all day on the Sunday, there will be no trains between Moorgate and Finsbury Park. An amended timetable, including rail replacement buses, will be in place on Sunday 24 August, while journeys will also be affected from 8pm on Saturday 23 August and until 9am on Monday 25 August (see notes for full details).
Passengers are advised to avoid travelling on EMR Intercity services via Sheffield, Derby or Chesterfield where possible due to extremely high customer numbers on the Midland Main Line.
Fans going to see Arsenal v Leeds on Saturday 23 August should note that buses will replace some trains from as early as 8pm. On Sunday 24 and Monday 25 August, the Notting Hill Carnival is taking place in London. All day on Sunday, buses replace trains on most routes and journeys will again take much longer. On Monday morning, services will start later than usual, with bus replacement services operating until around 9am.
Jonathan Daniels, head of ECDP integration, Network Rail, said: “This work has been carefully planned to avoid the busiest times of the August Bank Holiday weekend, and where possible passengers may be able to avoid this disruption by travelling before or after Sunday 24 August. I’d like to thank those passengers who will be affected for their patience and understanding of this work.”
Passengers are urged to check all parts of their journeys with train operators or National Rail before travelling.
Image credit: Network Rail
