Published on: Friday, 8 June 2018
Last updated: Friday, 8 June 2018
A run of summer weekends when it is possible to travel all the way into London by train from Southend starts next Saturday.
From Saturday 11 June it is possible to travel all the way to London by train from Southend Victoria , Wickford, Southminster and stations in between, as Network Rail engineering works to replace the overhead lines are paused for weekends in the summer.
There are also no weekend engineering works on the Norwich to London mainline for most of the summer.
Passengers from Southend can travel all the way into London by train every weekend in the summer – including the August Bank Holiday weekend – with the exception of Sunday 29 July, when a replacement bus service will run between Southend Victoria and Hockley just until 10am.
Mid-week engineering works will take place from 21.30 on the August Bank Holiday Monday.
Jamie Burles, Greater Anglia managing director said: “We want to make sure customers know when there isn’t engineering works on our lines so they can take advantage of faster travel into London by train.
“We know that the summer is a popular time for people to go to London for days out or for Londoners to visit our lovely East Anglian seaside towns, so that’s why less engineering work is carried out on the mainline over the summer.”
The Greater Anglia website has details of days out both in London and East Anglia, as well as a range of special offers, including two for one deals at attractions for people travelling by train.
Details of cheaper fares such as advance tickets, group save and other discounts are available online, with the Greater Anglia price promise offering the cheapest fare online or the company will refund the difference.
Network Rail is carrying out improvements to the tracks and overhead wiring system as part of its Railway Upgrade Plan to reduce delays and improve journeys to and from London.
Meliha Duymaz, Network Rail’s route managing director for Anglia, said: “We are carrying out vital upgrades across the Anglia region as part of our Railway Upgrade Plan to modernise the railway and improve reliability.
“ Our large-scale projects cannot be completed overnight so it’s important that we get chunks of time on the tracks in order to complete the work and make these improvements. We try to plan this for when fewer people travel to minimise disruption.”