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Tuesday 1 Jun 2021

Network Rail reaches final weekend of work on King’s Cross transformation – passengers reminded to check their journeys

Region & Route:

Eastern

• Network Rail continues to simplify track layout at London King’s Cross during main stage of £1.2billion East Coast Upgrade
• No trains to/from London King’s Cross on the afternoon of Friday 4, and all day on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 June
• Work will allow more trains to enter and exit the station – reducing congestion and bringing more reliable journeys for passengers
• Full service resumes on Monday 7 June but anyone travelling  should aim to do so safely and plan their journey in advance

Network Rail is reminding passengers to check their journeys ahead of a full closure of London King’s Cross station between the afternoon on Friday 4 June and the early hours of Monday 7 June.

Engineers are putting the finishing touches to a multi-million pound, once-in-a-generation project to transform the track layout at London King’s Cross, making it more practical for trains and bring more reliable journeys for passengers. The work is a critical part of the £1.2billion East Coast Upgrade.

Network Rail has replaced track, overhead lines and signalling; simplified the tracks on the approach to the station and reopened a disused tunnel after 44 years to increase capacity from four to six tracks.

In total the project has involved the installation of:

• Over 6km of new track
• Over 30 new sets of points
• Over 50 new signals
• Over 20km of new overhead wires

A major milestone was reached last month, when platforms 0-6 reopened and work began on platforms 7-11. The final phase of work over the weekend in June involves completing the refurbishment of platforms 7-11 and carrying out further upgrades to the station’s signalling system.

At the same time, vital work will also be carried out on a project to build a dive-under at Werrington, North of Peterborough, which will allow slower moving freight trains to run underneath the East Coast Main Line.

In order for all of this work to take place safely, the following changes will be in place:

Friday 4 June

• LNER trains to/from the North of England and Scotland will start/end at either Peterborough or St Neots after 13:50. Rail replacement coach services will operate between St Neots and Bedford, then connect to Thameslink services to/from London St Pancras International.
• Hull Trains will run a reduced service to/from King’s Cross before 12:00. No trains will run in the afternoon.
• Grand Central train services will run to/from Finsbury Park instead of King’s Cross, where passengers can connect to London Underground services.

Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 June

• LNER trains to/from the North of England and Scotland will start/end at Grantham, where passengers can connect to replacement coach services to/from Corby, then connect to East Midlands Railway services to/from London St Pancras International.

• Hull Trains will run services to/from London St Pancras International instead of King’s Cross. Trains will not call at Doncaster, Retford, Grantham or Stevenage.
• Buses will replace Cross Country services between Melton Mowbray and Peterborough.
• No Grand Central services will run over the weekend.

People should continue following the latest Government guidance to travel safely and plan journeys in advance.

Passengers who need to travel between 4 and 7 June are being strongly advised to check their journey via National Rail Enquiries, at EastCoastUpgrade.co.uk or with their train operator. They should also allow extra time as journeys will take longer than usual. All passengers travelling on LNER services will need to book a seat reservation.

Ed Akers, Principal Programme Sponsor for Network Rail’s East Coast Upgrade, said: “We’re now approaching the home straight in this massive programme of improvements that will deliver better connected, more reliable services to passengers travelling between London and Scotland on the historic East Coast Mainline.

“We appreciate that delivering these long term improvements requires some short term disruption and remain extremely grateful to passengers for their continued patience.”

ENDS