Thursday 19 Feb 2026
Track improvement work affecting services this Sunday
- Region & Route:
- Eastern
- | Eastern: East Midlands
Track renewal work taking place this weekend will mean buses replace trains between Leicester and Peterborough on Sunday 22 February.
Network Rail will be working between Melton Mowbray and Syston East Junction to upgrade 300 yards of track to make journeys smoother and more reliable, reducing the need for future maintenance.
The £582,000 investment will involve 120 staff, three engineering trains, as well as a tamper, road-rail vehicles (RRVs), welders, trolleys and hand tools.
To allow this upgrade work to be carried out safely, a rail replacement bus service will operate all day on Sunday 22 February between Leicester and Peterborough. Passengers are advised to check their journey in advance and allow extra time for travel.
Dan Matthews, Network Rail operations director, said:
“Renewing this section of track is vital to keeping services reliable for passengers travelling across the East Midlands. We appreciate the patience of passengers while this work takes place and encourage everyone to plan ahead and check their journeys before travelling.”
Passengers are reminded that major engineering work is taking place between Peterborough and London King’s Cross this weekend, meaning no direct trains to/from London King’s Cross.
East Midlands Railway services to/from London St Pancras are expected to see more customers than usual. Trains to/from London St Pancras are likely to be extremely busy, with the potential for standing room only. A queuing system will be in place at London St Pancras for EMR services and it may not be possible to board your intended service, so please allow extra time at the station.
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.
Follow us on Twitter: @networkrail
Visit our online newsroom: www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk