Rail users will face disruption on some Greater Anglia and Elizabeth Line services over the coming weeks. Network Rail are carrying out weekend engineering work on the Great Eastern and Southend Victoria/Southminster lines.
Engineering work will take place, affecting Greater Anglia and Elizabeth line services, at weekends between January 25 and February 16. Planned work on the mainline between Witham and London includes replacing work out track, carrying out drainage repairs and improvements and general maintenance.
Passengers are being advised to check their journey plans with National Rail Enquiries, TfL.gov.uk or with Greater Anglia before travelling on these weekends.
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Buses will replace trains between Witham and Newbury Park tube station on the first two weekends, while trains will continue to operate between Norwich / Colchester Town / Clacton & Witham. Buses replace trains replace trains between Ingatestone and Newbury Park on the second two weekends while trains will continue to operate between Norwich / Ipswich / Clacton and Shenfield (via Ingatestone connecting into rail replacement buses).
Buses will replace trains between Southend Victoria and Newbury Park tube station & between Southminster and Wickford on the weekend of 25/26 January. Elizabeth line services between Stratford and Shenfield will be affected. Replacement buses will operate between Stratford and Romford, and between Newbury Park and Shenfield via Chadwell Heath. Passengers are advised to use Central line connections between Liverpool Street, Stratford and Newbury Park.
This engineering work, affecting Greater Anglia and Elizabeth line services, will take place on the following weekends:
- Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 January 2025 between Witham and London on the mainline and includes the Southend Victoria/Southminster lines
- Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 February 2025 between Witham and London
- Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 February 2025 between Shenfield and London
- Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 February between Shenfield and London
The mainline between Ipswich and London is a very busy railway corridor and requires frequent maintenance and renewal of the infrastructure to keep services running safely for everyone. This part of the railway is also a busy freight line carrying heavy goods and materials into and out of the capital from the freight terminal at Felixstowe.
All of this frequent use wears out the track and equipment much quicker than less busy parts of the railway and maintenance engineers need frequent access to keep all the railway equipment in working order.
Lawrence Bowman, Network Rail’s route director for Anglia said: “Our maintenance teams are planning to carry out important repairs to the mainline to keep trains running safely. This includes improvements to track drainage so that our railway is resilient to the risk of more frequent and intense rain storms which historically have caused localised flooding that can impact our ability to run reliable train services.”
Martin Beable, Greater Anglia managing director, said: “This work is very important to help maintain the safe and reliable running of the railway and make it fit for the future. A rail replacement service will run while the works take place, and passengers are advised to check before they travel and allow more time for their journey.”