Media centre

Tuesday 20 Dec 2022

Passengers are being urged to check travel plans between January and April as vital engineering work is planned to take place on the main lines into London Liverpool Street.

Region & Route:

Eastern: Anglia

Christmas is a busy time for maintaining the railway, but while all eyes are on the festive period, rail passengers should continue to plan ahead and check their travel plans for 2023 as planned engineering work will continue to affect weekend and some weekday journeys between January and April into London Liverpool Street.

West Anglia Main line

After the New Year, planned weekend track engineering work will be taking place from the weekend of January 14/15 on the main line route between London and Cambridge, to improve the reliability of the infrastructure. This work will affect Greater Anglia and Stansted Express services between London and Cambridge and also Cross Country services to Stansted Airport.

There will also be a major bridge replacement next to Broxbourne station (Nazeing New Road bridge) over six consecutive days from Friday 13 January to Wednesday 18 January, which will require curtailing of weekend and weekday train services on this section of the main line. This will also affect Greater Anglia services on the Hertford East branch. The bridge will be replaced with a stronger structure serving road users for the next 120 years. Our engineers will also take the opportunity to undertake maintenance in the Stansted tunnel.  

A rail replacement service will be in place to allow passengers to complete their journeys. 

Great Eastern Main Line

Engineering work to re-rail Ipswich tunnel, and drainage work at Colchester will be taking place between Witham and Ipswich on the weekend of 7-8 January which will affect Greater Anglia services between Norwich and London.

Important weekend track and drainage work from 4-5 February will be taking place for six consecutive weekends up to and including 11-12 March to continue to improve the reliability of the railway infrastructure for all rail users. This work will affect both Greater Anglia and Elizabeth line services into London with rail replacement bus services in operation via Newbury Park.

Engineering work will affect Greater Anglia services on the Southend Victoria and Southminster lines to Shenfield from 18/19 February, each weekend up to and including 11/12 March, to replace wheel timbers on Clarkes Bridge and maintenance of the overhead lines.

To facilitate the construction for the exciting new station at Beaulieu Park, the line between Shenfield and Witham will be suspended on weekends from 25/26 February to 15/16 April. More information about this exciting project to construct the first new station on the Great Eastern Main line in 100 years can be found on the project webpage here.

Track work at Colchester and Witham, in additional to Beaulieu Park station construction work will affect services on the mainline on 1-2 April and the branch lines to both Braintree and Sudbury.  

Rail replacement buses will operate during the planned weekend work (except on days of industrial action, currently 7 January) to allow passengers to complete their journeys. 

Essex Thameside (c2c) line 

Engineering work will continue on most Sundays on the Tilbury Loop from 7/8 January up to Easter as overhead wires are renewed between Pitsea and Barking (via Grays). More information about additional closures of the mainline after Easter (including the May bank holidays) will be released closer to the time. 

Ellie Burrows, Network Rail’s route director for Anglia, said: "While Christmas engineering work is currently the focus, we have a significant package of engineering work to continue to deliver into the New Year on both the Great Eastern and the West Anglia main lines that will affect some rail journeys. 

"Passengers should check their journey plans in the New Year as some weekday and weekend services will be affected to allow us to complete vital structure replacements, track work and to facilitate the start of station construction for Beaulieu Park." 

Jamie Burles, Greater Anglia managing director, said: “These essential projects will help improve rail travel in the region and make the railway fit for the future. We appreciate customers’ patience while the work takes place.

“Customers should check before they travel, particularly as some of the work affects weekday service, and allow more time for their journey.”

Rob Mullen, c2c's Managing Director, said: "These upgrade works will improve the infrastructure on our route, making the railway more reliable for customers as they continue to return to rail. We encourage customers to check before they travel during this period and thank them for their patience."