Media centre

Tuesday 9 Apr 2024

Most Anglia railways open over the May Day bank holiday.

Region & Route:

Eastern: Anglia

This May Day bank holiday, the majority of the railway across Anglia will be open for passengers to travel. Whether working, visiting friends or family, or exploring towns or the beauty of the countryside, train services will be running to most destinations.

Some services will be affected by planned engineering work however, and we encourage passengers travelling on these routes to check their plans and allow extra time to complete their journey. Our planned engineering work will be taking place as follows:

• Continuing work at Shepreth branch junction and along the main line to Cambridge so that the South Rail Systems Alliance (SRSA) contractor can upgrade the rail systems as part of the Cambridge South station project. Additionally, our station contractor, Murphys, plan to lift a footbridge into position over the main line as part of the new station structure.
• Continuing work to renew the signalling systems for the Cambridge area in partnership with Alstom including installation of new signalling equipment between Cambridge and Audley End.
• Renewal of points (moveable sections of rail that allow trains to change tracks) and rail at Thames Haven Jct on the Essex Thameside line to improve reliability.
• General maintenance activities including inspections, checks, routine renewals to keep the railway safe and reliable.

Lawrence Bowman, Network Rail’s Route Director for Anglia said: Most passengers travelling on our network across Anglia will be able to travel around the region to get to work or enjoy the long weekend. There are limited engineering works taking place on our network and some passengers will need to leave extra time to complete their journey. I would encourage passengers to check their journey plans before travelling.”

Jamie Burles, Greater Anglia managing director, said: “We have a lot of great destinations on our network, and we hope people are able to get out and about this May Day bank holiday weekend. There will be some engineering work taking place on our West Anglia route. This work is extremely important to help maintain the safe and reliable running of the railway.

“A rail replacement service will run while the work takes place and passengers are advised to check before they travel and allow more time for their journey. We would like to thank customers for their patience and understanding while this essential maintenance is carried out.”

Jenny Saunders, Customer services Director for Thameslink and Great Northern, said: “We thank our customers for their patience and understanding while Network Rail carry out these major improvement projects in the Cambridge area. To help passengers complete their journeys, buses will replace trains between Royston and Cambridge over three May weekends, including the May Day Monday bank holiday, so please allow extra time when planning your trip, and double-check your schedule before setting off.”

Rob Mullen, c2c’s Managing Director, said: "The work Network Rail is carrying out over the early May bank holiday is essential in keeping services running safely and reliably in the longer term. Some of our services will be operating differently than normal with rail replacement in operation on parts of our route. We would ask that our customers check before they travel at www.c2c-online.co.uk"

Travel Information and service alterations:

All passengers are encouraged to check their journey plans before travelling with National Rail Enquiries or with their train operator. Buses may be busier than usual, and passengers should allow extra time for their journey if affected by engineering work.

Routes via Cambridge

To facilitate work to build the new station at Cambridge South and renew the existing signalling system, buses will replace trains from Saturday 4 May to Monday 6 May.  

• Audley End and Cambridge
• Royston and Cambridge/Cambridge North
• Cambridge and Stansted Airport

The above service alterations will also be in place on routes via Cambridge on the two weekends after the May Day bank holiday. A bus replacement service will be in operation on Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 May and on Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 May.

Routes via Tilbury

To facilitate the points renewal at Thames Haven, buses will replace trains from Saturday 4 May to Monday 6 May between Grays and Pitsea (via Tilbury). 

There will also be general engineering work taking place on Sunday 5 May only with buses replacing trains between Leigh-on-Sea and Shoeburyness.