Media centre

Wednesday 6 Dec 2023

Upgrades on the Midland Main Line continue over the festive period

Region & Route:

Eastern

| Eastern: East Midlands

Essential work will continue over Christmas to prepare the Midland Main Line for electrification between Kettering and Wigston as passengers are advised to check before travelling on 27 December.

Teams will be installing overhead line equipment along with completing essential work to install a Permanently Earthed Section (PES) at Kettering North Junction. A PES is a section of overhead line which is kept permanently earthed, meaning no electricity is running through it. It’s being installed to keep everyone safe while teams continue to work on overhead lines and to prevent any power straying from adjacent sections of OLE that are already live. This will be removed before Network Rail energises the Kettering to Wigston section of the line later in 2024.

Most of the work will take place on Christmas Day and Boxing Day when no passenger services run. Due to the complexity of the project, some of the work will continue throughout Wednesday 27 December, affecting services between Corby and Wellingborough.

Buses will replace trains on 27 December for passengers travelling between Leicester and Kettering via Market Harborough.

Gavin Crook, Principal Programme Sponsor for Network Rail’s East Midlands Route, said: “We appreciate there is never a good time to disrupt journeys and whenever possible we complete our work at times when there are significantly fewer people travelling by train. By completing this work over Christmas, we affect passengers for one day, instead of three. 

“We are sorry for the disruption this will cause and ask passengers to check their journey before setting off on 27 December.”

Dave Meredith, Customer Services Director at East Midlands Railway, said: “This work is a vital step in electrifying the Midland Main Line and another big green investment in the region’s infrastructure.

“We would like to apologise to any customers affected by the works and would urge them to double check their journey if they intend on travelling on December 27.

“To help keep people on the move, buses will replace trains between Kettering and Leicester via Market Harborough – as well as between Wellingborough and Leicester. An amended train service will also run between London St Pancras International and Wellingborough, Corby and Sheffield, Leicester and Nottingham, and Leicester and Sheffield.”

Electrifying the line between London St Pancras and the East Midlands will allow the introduction of bi-mode trains in the future, delivering greener, faster, and smoother journeys for passengers.

On Christmas Day and Boxing Day Network Rail will also be renewing a section of overhead line between Hendon and Mill Hill as part of an ongoing programme of work to upgrade the power supply south of Bedford, these improvements will allow trains to run at 125mph.