Passengers urged to plan ahead of engineering work and industrial action on East Coast Main Line – 7 and 8 January: East Coast Digital Programme-7

Wednesday 4 Jan 2023

Passengers urged to plan ahead of engineering work and industrial action on East Coast Main Line – 7 and 8 January

Region & Route:
Eastern
| Eastern: East Coast

Passengers intending to travel to and from London King’s Cross and other destinations on the East Coast Main Line via Peterborough over the weekend of 7 and 8 January are being asked to plan ahead with travel impacted by both industrial action and engineering work.

Strikes by the RMT and ASLEF are affecting the entire network from 3-7 January and passengers are advised to travel only if absolutely necessary.

On Saturday and Sunday (7 and 8 January) pre-planned engineering work is taking place as part of the Government funded East Coast Digital Programme (ECDP), aimed at improving reliability and providing a better and greener service for passengers. State-of-the-art digital technology will be introduced through the transformational programme, providing continuous speed based signalling through a screen in the driver’s cab. 

On 7 and 8 January, no train services will run between St Neots (south of Peterborough) and London.

A reduced LNER service will start and terminate at St Neots or Peterborough, with rail replacement coaches between St Neots and Bedford where passengers can connect to Thameslink services to or from London St Pancras.

Hull Trains will operate a reduced service via the Midland Main Line into London St Pancras with extended journey times.

Lumo will be operating a reduced service between Edinburgh and Newcastle only.

Passengers are advised to plan ahead and check before they travel at their operator’s website or at www.nationalrail.co.uk

ENDS

Notes to Editors

Over the weekend of 7 and 8 January a new signalling system is being tested in the Wood Green-New Barnet area of North London, preparing the area for digital signalling while reducing faults involved with the current system. New lineside equipment and technology is also being installed between Welwyn Garden City and Hitchin, preparing the way for this section to become the first part of the East Coast Main Line to operate with digital signalling.

Contact information

Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41

Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries

Journalists
Jake Nabi
Media Relations Manager
Network Rail
07858375508
jake.nabi@networkrail.co.uk

About Network Rail

We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.

Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.

Follow us on Twitter: @networkrail
Visit our online newsroom: www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk