Media centre

Tuesday 5 May 2026

Upgrades mean amended rail service between Bedford and London this weekend

Region & Route:

Eastern

| Eastern: East Midlands

Railway improvement work will mean no Thameslink trains running between Bedford and Mill Hill Broadway in north London this weekend (Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 May), while East Midlands Railway (EMR) services will not run south of Bedford.

Network Rail engineers will be working at several sites to deliver projects including:

• 300 metres of new track at St Albans for smoother, more reliable journeys
• drainage upgrades at Radlett to prevent flooding, protect the railway and support safer, more reliable services
• installation of switches and crossings – the sections of track allowing trains to switch between lines – at Radlett Strategic Freight Interchange
• further progress on the Access for All project at Luton station, where an accessible footbridge and three lifts are being installed.

East Midlands Railway will have rail replacement buses operating between Bedford and Hitchin, and passengers can use Great Northern/Thameslink services between Hitchin and London.

Thameslink will have no services between Bedford and Mill Hill Broadway. Replacement bus services will run between:

• Luton Airport Parkway and Hitchin via Luton
• Harpenden and Potters Bar via St Albans City
• Mill Hill Broadway and Luton
• Bedford and Luton.

Dan Matthews, Network Rail operations director, said:

“This weekend we’re carrying out further improvement work to make the railway more reliable and resilient for passengers and freight. This includes renewing track at St Albans, upgrading drainage and installing points at Radlett, and continuing our work to deliver step‑free access at Luton station.

“We appreciate everyone’s understanding while these important improvements take place, and we’re sorry to anyone whose journey will be affected.”

Jenny Saunders, customer service director for Thameslink, said: 

“I’m sorry our Thameslink passengers north of Mill Hill Broadway on the Bedford route will have to take a rail replacement bus this weekend because of this essential engineering work. This will take longer than the normal train ride, so please go online to check your journey before you set out and allow any extra time.”

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

“We’re working closely with Network Rail to support this important programme of improvements and keep customers on the move.

“We’re advising anyone travelling to/from London over the weekend of 9-10 May, to allow extra time to complete their journey. There will be rail replacement buses in place between Bedford and Hitchin. 

“We’d like to thank customers for their patience; the completed works will help deliver a more reliable railway for customers in the future.”

This weekend is the second of four between April and June which will see journeys between Bedford and London affected. Further engineering work is planned for 20-21 and 27-28 June.