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Rail upgrades to affect journeys between Kettering and Loughborough on 19 and 20 September: Leicester station-2

Friday 11 Sep 2026

Rail upgrades to affect journeys between Kettering and Loughborough on 19 and 20 September

Region & Route:
Eastern
| Eastern: East Midlands

Passengers are advised that buses will replace trains between Kettering and Loughborough next weekend (Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 September) while Network Rail carries out important railway improvements.

Engineers will renew about 350 metres of track alongside platform 3 at Leicester station. The work involves excavating and replacing the underlying stone and supporting layers beneath the track, helping to provide a more reliable railway and a smoother ride for passengers. Specialist engineering and maintenance trains, and a rail-mounted crane will be used to complete the work.

Over the same weekend, specialist maintenance machines to realign and compact the track at Knighton Junction. This work improves track quality, helps trains run more smoothly and reduces the need for future maintenance, supporting a more reliable railway for passengers and freight operators.

The work will affect train services as follows:

Saturday 19 September

  • Trains between Leicester and Nottingham will run between Loughborough and Nottingham only.
  • Rail replacement buses will run between Leicester and Loughborough, calling at Syston, Sileby and Barrow-upon-Soar.

Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 September

  • Buses will replace trains between Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester and Loughborough.
  • A reduced service of one train per hour will run between London St Pancras and Wellingborough.
  • A reduced service of one train per hour will run between London St Pancras and Nottingham/Sheffield. These services will not call at Market Harborough or Leicester but will make additional stops at Wellingborough and Corby.

Eric Larocque, Network Rail operations director, said:

“We’re sorry to passengers who will be affected by these upgrades. The improvements at Leicester station and Knighton Junction will help provide a smoother, more reliable railway by improving track quality and reducing the need for future maintenance.

“We encourage anyone planning to travel over the weekend of 19 and 20 September to check their journey before setting off, as buses will replace trains on parts of the route and journey times may be longer than usual.”

Philippa Cresswell, customer experience director for East Midlands Railway, said:

“We recommend that customers planning to travel to or from London on Saturday 19 or Sunday 20 September allow plenty of extra time for their journeys and check the EMR website for any updates before they travel.

“Services are expected to be busier than usual due to the reduced train service, with rail replacement buses operating between Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester and Loughborough. Leicester station will be closed throughout the weekend, with no access to the platforms while Network Rail carries out track work on platform 3.

“We thank our customers for their patience and understanding while these important improvement works are carried out.”

Passengers should also note that emergency bridge repairs will close the West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Watford Junction until 4pm on Sunday 20 September.

Notes to Editors

Amendments to services:

Saturday 19 September

  • The 04.56 Derby to London St Pancras International service will not call at Nottingham. A rail replacement bus service will run between Nottingham, Beeston and East Midlands Parkway
  • The 05.00 Nottingham to Norwich service will start earlier than usual at 04.57 and will not call at East Midlands Parkway, Loughborough, Melton Mowbray, Oakham and Stafford
  • The 05.51 Leicester to Sheffield service will start from Loughborough at 05.58. A rail replacement bus service will run between Leicester and Loughborough
  • The 06.00 Nottingham to Norwich service will start earlier than usual at 04.57 and will not call at East Midlands Parkway, Loughborough, Melton Mowbray, Oakham and Stafford
  • The 20.30 Sheffield to Leicester service will start at Sheffield later than usual at 21.20. A rail replacement bus service will run between Loughborough and Leicester
  • The 21.00 Sheffield to Leicester service will start at Sheffield later than usual at 21.36 and will continue to run up to 43 minutes later than usual to Loughborough, terminating at 22.39. A rail replacement bus service will run between Loughborough and Leicester

Sunday 20 September

  • The 08.01 Derby to Ambergate service will start earlier than usual at 07.47 and will continue to run up to 14 minutes earlier to Ambergate
  • The 10.15 Leicester to Sheffield service will start from Loughborough at 10.23. A rail replacement bus service will run between Leicester and Loughborough
  • The 21.51 Nottingham to Leicester service will start from Nottingham later than usual at 22.01 and will continue to run up to 10 minutes later than usual to Loughborough, terminating at 22.21. A rail replacement bus service will run between Loughborough and Leicester
  • The 22.32 Leicester to Derby service will start from Loughborough at 22.40. A rail replacement bus service will run between Leicester and Loughborough

Contact information

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

Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries

Journalists
Gareth Dennison
Media relations manager, Eastern region
Network Rail
07561 874858
gareth.dennison@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.

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