Media centre

Friday 15 May 2026

Choose rail this late May bank holiday

Region & Route:

Eastern: Anglia

The majority of the railways across East Anglia will be open for this upcoming bank holiday but customers are encouraged to check before travelling and allow extra time on certain routes. 

With longer, warmer days, there is no better way to travel around East Anglia than by rail, so all you have to do is decide is how best to use the time during your journey.

As with the early bank holiday, engineering work in East Anglia has been kept as light as possible so that the majority of the railways are open so customers can travel on the network. 

However, customers are encouraged to continue to check before travelling as some routes will still be affected by engineering work taking place over the late May bank holiday weekend from Saturday 23 May to Monday 25 May: 

• As part of a nine-day closure of the East Suffolk line (23 May - 31 May), engineers are replacing old track and signalling technology during the bank holiday between Ipswich and Lowestoft to keep train services running reliably and safely.
• Old track in the Shelford station area in Cambridgeshire is being replaced, including Shelford level crossing to keep trains running reliably.
• Strengthening work to the platform structures at Tottenham Hale station will take place.
• Track renewal at Copper Mill junction between Lea Bridge and Tottenham Hale is also planned.

Martin Beable on behalf of Anglia's integrated railway said: “We’ve worked hard to keep disruption to a minimum for this May bank holiday so people can get out by rail to enjoy our region.

"We are delivering improvement works in specific locations and so customers should check before travelling and allow extra time to complete their journey.

"We have a lot of great destinations on our network, and look forward to helping people enjoy a day out by train."

Travel information for customers travelling between Ipswich and Lowestoft

Saturday 23 May 2026 to Sunday 24 May 2026

Buses replace trains between Lowestoft and Ipswich. A separate shuttle bus will operate for customers travelling to and from Beccles, these customers will need to change bus at Halesworth.

Monday 25 May 2026 to Sunday 31 May 2026

Buses replace trains between Halesworth and Ipswich. Trains will continue to operate between Lowestoft and Halesworth.

Travel information for customers travelling via Cambridge on the following dates:

• Saturday 16 to Sunday 17 May 2026*
• Saturday 23 May to Monday 25 May 2026 (late May bank holiday)
• Saturday 30 May to Sunday 31 May 2026*

Buses will operate between Cambridge North/Cambridge and Audley End/Stansted Airport. Trains will continue to operate between Audley End and Stansted Airport/London bound services.   

Great Northern and Thameslink services will continue to operate between Brighton/King's Cross and Cambridge/King's Lynn.

*The track replacement work at Shelford is also planned on the two weekends either side of the bank holiday weekend, with similar alterations to train services and bus replacement in place. There is an additional bus replacement service between Royston and Cambridge on Sunday 31 May for track work at Foxton. 

Travel information for customers travelling via Tottenham Hale on the following dates:

• Saturday 23 May to Monday 25 May 2026 (late May bank holiday)
• Saturday, 30 May 2026 to Sunday, 31 May 2026**

West Anglia / Stansted Express services that normally operate via Tottenham Hale will divert via Seven Sisters, resulting in journey times extending by up to 15 minutes.

No trains will serve Tottenham Hale, Northumberland Park, Meridian Water, Ponders End, Brimsdown, Enfield Lock or Waltham Cross.

Trains which normally operate between Hertford East and Liverpool Street / Stratford will terminate at Broxbourne.

**The platform structure engineering work at Tottenham Hale and the track work at Copper Mill Junction continues the weekend after the bank holiday on Saturday 30 and Sunday 31 May which will impact weekend services as listed above.