Network Rail is warning that there won’t be any trains in or out of London King’s Cross station on 6th-7th and 13th-14th January 2024, because of signalling upgrade works.
That will affect Thameslink, Great Northern, Grand Central, LNER, Hull Trains and Lumo services.
(c) ianVisits
The closure is due to work on the billion-pound East Coast Digital Programme, with upgrades being carried out further up the East Coast Main Line, affecting journeys between London and Peterborough, Ely and King’s Lynn.
As a result, there will be no trains between London and Peterborough, Letchworth Garden City or Stevenage via Hertford North over the two-weekend closures.
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)
- Letchworth Garden City and Hitchin
- Luton Airport Parkway and Stevenage calling at Hitchin
- St Albans and Hitchin calling at Welwyn Garden City, Welwyn North, Knebworth and Stevenage
- Alexandra Palace and Welwyn Garden City calling all stations except Hadley Wood, with an additional stop at Cockfosters to connect with London Underground Piccadilly Line trains
- Cockfosters and Potters Bar calling at Hadley Wood
- Alexandra Palace and Stevenage via Hertford North
Ticket acceptance will be in place on the following alternative routes:
- Thameslink services between Bedford and London St Pancras via Luton Airport Parkway
- 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.
In addition:
LNER will be operating a reduced service starting and terminating at Grantham. Rail replacement coaches will run between Grantham and Peterborough to Corby / Kettering, where customers can join EMR services to London St Pancras.
Hull Trains will be running a reduced train service of two trains in each direction, which will divert and terminate in London St Pancras. Lumo services will only operate between Edinburgh and Newcastle, with Grand Central operating no service on the affected days.
The upgrade works
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.
East Coast Digital Programme (c) Network Rail
At the same time, 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 are encouraged to check their journey before travelling over the affected weekends via National Rail Enquiries or their train operator.
Ricky Barsby, Head of Access and Integration for East Coast Digital Programme, said: “Work is progressing well on this pioneering project and we continue to prepare the way for changing the way train services operate on the East Coast Main Line.
“This work has been scheduled years in advance and while we never want to disrupt passengers’ journeys, these upgrades are vital to delivering a more resilient, more reliable and greener railway for the future.
“We want to thank passengers for their patience and understanding and encourage them to check their journey before travelling.”
There will be further ECDP work taking place in February between Saturday 17th and Tuesday 20th February, with buses replacing trains.
Leave a Reply