Two weekends of disruption for Biggleswade rail passengers as upgrades hit East Coast train line

Passengers are being warned to check their journey before travelling as further engineering work is carried out on two weekends in early January as part of the billion-pound East Coast Digital Programme.

Work is progressing on the billion-pound East Coast Digital Programme with upgrades being carried out further up the East Coast Main Line line, affecting journeys between London and Peterborough including Biggleswade, Sandy and Arlesey, Ely and King’s Lynn

No trains will run between London and Peterborough, Letchworth Garden City or Stevenage via Hertford North on January 6 and 7 and 13 and 14 and a limited rail replacement bus service will be in place on these weekends

Network Rail engineers will be working on the East Coast Main Line, between London King’s Cross and Peterborough, as well as between King’s Cross, Finsbury Park, and Moorgate over the weekends of the 6 / 7 January and 13 / 14 January, meaning there will be no train services between London and Peterborough, Letchworth Garden City and Stevenage via Hertford North.

On the two weekends, an extremely limited rail replacement bus service will run for passengers travelling between: Peterborough and Bedford (for trains to London St Pancras), Peterborough and Hitchin (calling at all stations).

Ticket acceptance will be in place on the following alternative routes: Greater Anglia services between London Liverpool Street and Cambridge. Great Northern services will run between Letchworth Garden City and Cambridge, Ely and King’s Lynn.

During the work, teams will be carrying out further improvements to the trackwork in the area, adjusting overhead line equipment, and testing newly installed cabling and equipment that will make the new system function.

The ECDP will see traditional, lineside signals removed and replaced with signalling displayed inside drivers’ cabs. The change will lead to more reliable journeys for passengers and a greener railway.

A separate project will be focusing on improving mobile phone signal inside the tunnels at the mouth of King’s Cross station. The jointly funded project will deliver better mobile phone connectivity for passengers as they travel in and out of King’s Cross by train.

Passengers should check their journey before travelling via National Rail Enquiries or their train operator.