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Wednesday 7 Sep 2016

Passengers reminded to check before they travel ahead of Kettering to Corby railway upgrade

Region & Route:

| Eastern

Rail passengers travelling between Kettering and Corby are being reminded that the next phase of work starts on Saturday to upgrade the railway between the two stations.

On Saturday, 10 September until Monday, 24 October, rail replacement buses will be in action as the latest phase of Network Rail’s Railway Upgrade Plan to deliver a bigger, better railway for passengers comes to Northamptonshire.

The six week closure of the railway will allow engineers to carry out significant upgrades to the line, most notably to allow major strengthening work to take place on bridges and viaducts needed to support the extra trains that will in the future run on the second track, which Network Rail engineers have been installing for the past 12 months.

Rob McIntosh, route managing director for Network Rail, said: “The project is part of our exciting Midland Main Line Upgrade Programme that will allow more trains to run, more frequently as well as reducing journey times on the routes which serve the people of Sheffield, Nottingham, Derby, St Pancras and, of course, Kettering and Corby.

“We have been on site for a year installing a second track between Corby and Kettering and now need to carry out more complex works on the bridges and viaducts along the route. The safest and most efficient way to do this is while trains are not running. I want to thank passengers for their patience while we complete this phase of the work and assure them we will re-open the line as quickly as possible.”

Jake Kelly, managing director for East Midlands Trains, said: “This is a key stage in the Midland Main Line improvement programme that will help unlock the potential for future journey time improvements and capacity enhancements.

“We have worked hard to inform our customers about the plans in place during the work, but we'd advise anyone travelling between Kettering and Corby to check our website for further information. We have a dedicated web page containing details about how to claim compensation and an email address, corbyclosure@eastmidlandstrains.co.uk for customers to get answers to any outstanding questions."

Between Saturday, 10 September and Monday, 24 October, replacement bus services will run between Corby and Kettering in place of trains, connecting in with train services at Kettering. The journey time is expected to be around 20 minutes, and the coaches will depart slightly earlier than the normal train timetable. The replacement bus service is available on the East Midlands Trains website.