As well as the King’s Cross upgrade, hundreds of Network Rail engineers will be continuing work on a major project to make a tunnel under the railway near Peterborough station.

Between the last service on Tuesday, 24 December and the first service on Friday, 27 December, and on Saturday, 4 and Sunday, 5 January, engineers will move railway tracks to make space for the new so-called dive under.

Once complete, the tunnel under will remove the need to let slow-moving freight trains move across the ECML which in turn means that high-speed trains will no longer need to slow down for the area.

This work is part of the East Coast Upgrade which is a £1.2billion project to regenerate the infrastructure along the East Coast Main Line.

As usual, there will be no services on Christmas Day or Boxing Day. There will be a reduced service between Peterborough and London King’s Cross until 13:00 on Friday, 27 December.

What did the officials say?

Caroline Smith is a Scheme Project Manager for Network Rail and has worked on the railway for 20 years. Caroline will be working on the project over the festive period.

Caroline said:

“The work we are carrying out over Christmas is really important to make sure that progress on this vital project stays on track.

“Over the festive period, my role will be to oversee the work and make sure it runs on schedule. This work is an important part of the East Coast Upgrade, which will bring significant benefits to passengers, including more services, more seats and faster journeys.

“I do enjoy working over the festive period. There is a good team spirit and we enjoy a few decorations and some mince pies, however after this, it’s minds on the job.”

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