East Midlands Railway is urging passengers, who are travelling to London to pay their respects to Her Majesty The Queen, to plan ahead as services are expected to be busy.

The operator is working with Network Rail, other operators, and Transport for London, to introduce plans that have been prepared for some time. However, demand is expected to be exceptional.

Central London is expected to be extremely busy from Wednesday through to the end of the Funeral on Monday.

Engineering work between Luton and London that was planned for this weekend has been cancelled.

Will Rogers, Managing Director, East Midlands Railway, said: “We are working with our colleagues across the railway and wider public transport to help people pay their respects to Her Majesty the Queen over the coming days.

“This is a historic occasion and we expect an unprecedented level of demand for public transport to and from London – as well as within Central London itself.

“We are doing everything we can to help. We are running our full timetable throughout this period and providing plenty of additional staff at stations to provide advice and help where it is needed.

“If you are travelling you can also help by planning your journey in advance – including within London itself – leaving plenty of extra time and being prepared to queue to enter and exit stations and other busy areas.”