Published on: Wednesday, 22 August 2018
Last updated: Wednesday, 22 August 2018
Rail passengers are reminded to check before they travel this weekend, as some engineering work is planned for the network in East Anglia.
All passengers will be able to complete their journeys over the weekend, however part of it may be by bus.
On Saturday, Network Rail will be renewing the track between Ipswich-Witham and Marks Tey-Sudbury and Greater Anglia will be running a rail replacement bus service. Services to Southend Victoria are unaffected and will run as normal.
On Sunday, Network Rail’s engineering work will continue and as a result, buses will replace trains between Ipswich-Chelmsford, Witham-Braintree, Marks Tey-Sudbury and Manningtree-Harwich. Services to Southend Victoria are unaffected and will run as normal.
On Monday, buses will replace trains between Ipswich-Witham and Marks Tey-Sudbury all day. The Southend line will be unaffected for most of the day, however rail replacement buses will run from Wickford to Southend Victoria from 21.20.
Over the three-day bank holiday weekend, Network Rail’s engineers will install 120 metres of track, one set of points and one new buffer stop at Colchester station, replace 1,200 tons of ballast at Colchester and install nearly 3km of track between Manningtree and Ardleigh on the mainline.
In addition, work will take place between Ipswich and Felixstowe as part of a £60.4m programme to transform the single-track Felixstowe branch line, by installing 1.4km track loop near Trimley station. This additional track will allow the line to operate more effectively, giving the flexibility needed to run more freight trains, as well as improve the reliability of existing passenger services. This project began in April and will take place most weekends until autumn 2019. A rail replacement service will operate.
Greater Anglia has booked 300 buses so that customers planning to go to London over the long weekend are still able to complete their journey.
Extra staff will be on hand at stations to help customers get onto the right bus.
Greater Anglia managing director Jamie Burles said: “We will make sure that customers are able to complete their journeys this weekend, even if part of the way is by bus.
“We apologise to customers for inconvenience engineering works may cause, but these engineering works are vital to improve the railway in East Anglia for everyone, making it more reliable for generations to come.”
Customers are advised to check before they travel, using the Greater Anglia website, Twitter or rail apps. They should also allow extra time to complete their journeys.
For more information and rail replacement bus timetables, visit www.greateranglia.co.uk/alterations