Media centre

Monday 16 Nov 2015

Check before you travel over Christmas and New Year as investment on London to Norwich line continues

Region & Route:

| Eastern: Anglia

| Eastern

Passengers travelling on the line between Norwich and London over the Christmas and New Year period should check before they travel as Network Rail will be carrying out vital improvements to deliver a better, more reliable railway.

An army of engineers will be spending their Christmas Day and the days that follow installing more than 11km of new overhead lines between Ilford and Shenfield to improve reliability for passengers travelling from east London, Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk into London Liverpool Street.

Network Rail will also continue to upgrade the railway between Forest Gate and Shenfield in preparation for Crossrail, which will transform services between London and Shenfield with new trains and more frequent services from 2017.

This means there will be changes to Abellio Greater Anglia services on December 27, December 28 and January 1, 2 and 3.  Trains will travel as far as Ingatestone, from where there will be a bus to Newbury Park tube station on the Central Line taking passengers into London.

Richard Schofield, Network Rail route managing director, said: “This Christmas and New Year, our orange army will be working around the clock to provide more reliable journeys for millions of passengers who use this essential rail artery every year.

“The number of people travelling by rail continues to grow to record levels and this Christmas and New Year’s investment programme forms a key part of our Railway Upgrade Plan to meet this demand.

“Some of the major work we need to carry out can’t be done overnight and we need a longer period of time to complete these jobs. We would like to thank passengers in advance for bearing with us as it could mean some changes to their travel plans.”

Jamie Burles, Managing Director, Abellio Greater Anglia, said: “We know our customers' first priority is a punctual and reliable service, so it is important that Network Rail continues to invest in improving and upgrading the rail infrastructure. The work they are carrying out this Christmas and New Year is designed to improve performance and prepare the way for train service upgrades related to the Crossrail project to be phased in between 2017 and 2019.

"We are working together to minimise the impact of the projects on customers' journeys, but we advise customers to check their journey details before they travel, so they can plan for any effects of the revised timetables on their arrangements."

No TfL Rail trains will run on December 27 and December 28, rail replacement buses will run, calling at Newbury Park for the Central line. On Friday January 1, Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 there will be no TfL Rail service between Seven Kings and Shenfield, rail replacement buses will call at all stops.

There will not be any services on Christmas Day or Boxing Day and a revised service will operate on TfL Rail on 29 – 31 December.

In 2019, when the Crossrail route fully opens passengers will be able to travel to parts of the City, West End and west London without the need to change trains and will also benefit from improved links to Heathrow Airport.

The Christmas period is a quieter time on the railway where in and around London, 50% fewer people travel.

Ends 

Network Rail is responsible for delivering the North-East section of the Crossrail between Stratford in east London and Shenfield in Essex.

The works include station improvements along the 25km (15.5 mile) route at Romford, Ilford, Goodmayes, Forest Gate, Harold Wood, Gidea Park, Chadwell Heath, Brentwood and Shenfield.

This Christmas Network Rail will be extending platforms that will allow longer, higher capacity trains to run in the future.  

A comprehensive advertising campaign is underway to make passengers aware of changes to services. The campaign features Barry Robinson, a track section manager from Leeds. Just like thousands of others, he’ll be working for you this Christmas and New Year helping to deliver Network Rail’s railway upgrade plan. 

Full train service details can be found on www.nationalrail.co.uk/christmas, www.tfl.gov.uk/festive or www.abelliogreateranglia.co.uk