Buses to replace trains in East of England this August bank holiday weekend
Commuters are being told to check before they travel
Passengers looking to catch the train in Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire this August bank holiday weekend are being told to plan ahead.
It's all because of further tests being carried out on new digital signals along the East Coast Main Line, which runs through the county.
The work forms the final stages of testing ahead of the £1.4 billion East Coast Digital Programme’s introduction of digital in-cab signalling – replacing traditional lineside traffic light signals - with real‑time information sent directly into the driver’s cab.
“The ability to control trains in this way will enable a more resilient and reliable railway that is fit for the future," Ricky Barsby, head of access integration at Network Rail, said.
“We have carefully planned this work to avoid the busiest times of the August bank holiday weekend, and where possible passengers may be able to avoid this disruption by travelling before or after Sunday, August 30.
“We’re sorry to anyone whose journey is affected and grateful to passengers for their patience and understanding.”
What is the work?
Network Rail believes with signalling information being provided directly to the driver through a screen in their cab, there will no longer be a need to maintain a large amount of lineside equipment involved with traditional 'traffic light' signals.
As a result, the company expects the amount of future signalling-related engineering work to reduce by around half.
Digital signalling gives train drivers regular updates about the safe maximum speed for their train.
It aims to provide drivers with additional information about the route ahead that today’s fixed ‘traffic light’ signals do not, helping trains stay on time.
Network Rail has said these upgrades will deliver a further 55,000 less tonnes in carbon emissions within 60 years because digital signalling requires much less physical equipment to produce and maintain compared to ‘traffic light’ signals.
What changes are in place this weekend?
No Great Northern or Thameslink trains will run between Letchworth Garden City and Peterborough or Potters Bar and Hertford North from around 10pm on Saturday, all day Sunday, until around 8am on Monday, August 31.
A revised train service will run between:
- Letchworth Garden City and Cambridge/King's Lynn
- Moorgate and Hertford North/Potters Bar
- London King's Cross and Potters Bar
- Brighton and Finsbury Park
- Horsham and London Bridge/Finsbury Park (Saturday evening/Monday morning only)
Replacement buses will run between:
- Hitchin and Peterborough, calling at all stations
- Bedford and Peterborough, calling at St Neots and Huntingdon
- Hitchin and Letchworth Garden City
- Luton Airport Parkway and Stevenage via Hitchin
- St Albans City and Stevenage calling at Hatfield, Welwyn Garden City, Welwyn North and Knebworth
- Hertford North and Stevenage, calling at Watton-at-Stone
- Potters Bar and Hitchin, calling at all stations (Saturday evening/all day Sunday only)
- Potters Bar and Welwyn Garden City, calling at all stations (Monday morning only)
Limited LNER trains will also run, with services starting and ending at Peterborough.
A bus service will run between Peterborough and Bedford, for connections into and out of London St Pancras, which will affect travel late Saturday evening and early Monday morning.
On Sunday only, a limited LNER service will operate between Newcastle and Bedford via Doncaster, connecting with Thameslink services to and from London St Pancras.
“We’ve worked closely together and with Network Rail to keep customers moving and minimise disruption wherever possible," a spokesperson for the train operators said.
"We encourage customers to plan ahead and check their journey before travelling so they can choose the option that best suits them."