Passengers are urged to plan ahead as no trains will be running between London King’s Cross and Peterborough over a weekend in May as work to transform East Coast Main Line continues.
Network Rail teams will be carrying out significant upgrades on the East Coast Main Line on Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 May as part of £1.4 billion East Coast Digital Programme (ECDP).
The work represents another major milestone in the transformation to digital signalling technology that will create a more reliable, efficient, and greener railway.
Colleagues will be working over the weekend to carry out:
- High-speed digital signalling testing between Welwyn Garden City and Hitchin
- Preparatory digital signalling work between Biggleswade and Peterborough
- Removal of traditional signals between Moorgate and Finsbury Park
The high-speed testing involves running trains through the already upgraded section between Welwyn Garden City and Hitchin to test the new digital signalling systems before its planned go live date in early 2026. Additional preparatory work for digital signalling will also be undertaken for the next stage of the project between Biggleswade and Peterborough – work that is required for the future operation of in-cab signalling.
The signal removal work between Moorgate and Finsbury Park marks a significant milestone. This section will become Britain’s first fully ‘no signals’ commuter railway, meaning trains will operate solely with in-cab digital signalling, and not with traditional, traffic-light signals. Great Northern services already use digital signalling on this stretch, and removing the physical signals completes the transition to a fully digital railway route.
Due to the engineering work, there will be no services to or from London King’s Cross on 17 and 18 May*. Journeys to and from London will take significantly longer than normal, and passengers are urged to check www.nationalrail.co.uk before they travel.
There will be no trains between Peterborough and London King’s Cross, meaning passengers travelling from further north will need to use rail replacement coaches between Peterborough and Bedford, and Thameslink trains between Bedford and London St Pancras.
Passengers should avoid travelling via Sheffield, Derby, Nottingham, or Chesterfield on East Midlands Railway services due to extremely high customer numbers on this route.
Ricky Barsby, Network Rail’s head of access integration for the East Coast Digital Programme, said: “The testing work is another step towards the introduction of digital, in-cab signalling on the East Coast Main Line, enabling a more reliable and greener railway. The work will also see the removal of traditional signals on a stretch of commuter railway in London, pointing the way to the next generation railway.
“We recognise the work will lead to journeys taking longer over that weekend. We would like to thank all those affected for their patience and understanding.”
A spokesperson on behalf of train operators said: “Across the weekend, our colleagues will be working hard to keep people on the move and get them safely to their destination. There is rarely an ideal time to carry out such large-scale engineering work, but these upgrades will bring major improvements to customer journeys in the future. We want to thank all of our customers for their understanding across the weekend.”
During the railway closure, engineers will also renew and refurbish track switching equipment near Hornsey and Huntingdon, while completing drainage work near Fletton. These improvements will allow for smoother, more reliable journeys on the East Coast Main Line.
For more information on the East Coast Digital programme, please visit here.
Image credit: Network Rail
