Work to improve access to the centre of Norfolk town Wymondham will mean six consecutive days of rail replacement buses from Saturday 21 until Thursday 26 October.

Wymondham stands on the River Tiffey, twelve miles (nineteen kilometres) south-west of Norwich off the A11 road to London.

Housing developers are building a new subway under the railway because of plans to expand South Wymondham. Network Rail’s specialist asset protection team, which supervises works carried out by external organisations on or near the railway, is assisting with the construction.

The team’s involvement helps to ensure safety and protects the railway infrastructure while projects are being completed.

The subway is expected to significantly enhance walking and cycling facilities to the rail station and the town centre, and will be located between Wymondham station and the Station Road railway bridge. Once it is open, the footpath under the Station Road bridge will be removed, which will help to improve motor traffic flow.

The subway is expected to be completed by the end of 2024, subject to necessary statutory approvals, and next month, preparatory work will begin.

Greater Anglia and East Midlands Railway trains will not be able to run on part of the line between Norwich and Cambridge / Stansted Airport / Liverpool Lime Street during the work. So, from Monday 23 until Thursday 26 October:

• A rail replacement bus service will run between Norwich and Thetford, stopping at intermediate stations.
• A direct rail replacement bus service will run between Norwich and Ely.

In addition, Network Rail will carry out railway engineering works on Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 October.

• Greater Anglia will run a rail replacement bus service between Thetford and Ely.
• East Midlands Railway will run rail replacement buses between Norwich and Peterborough.
• The same rail replacement services will operate on the weekends of 7-8 and 14-15 October.

The two work projects will add up to six consecutive days of rail replacement buses in total.

Network Rail is advising passengers to check before they travel, using the National Rail, Greater Anglia or East Midlands Railway websites.

David Kang Gil, Network Rail Anglia head of asset protection, said: “We support external projects that will benefit our local communities wherever we can, and the new subway will make a real difference to Wymondham. We’re really sorry that passengers will face disruption in October, but it’s fundamental to allow the subway scheme to move forward, and to give us time to carry out important reliability upgrades on the railway itself.”

James Reeve, Greater Anglia area customer service manager, said: “The new subway will make it easier for people to travel around the town and access Wymondham station, and the preparatory work in October is essential.

“A rail replacement service will run while the work takes place and passengers are advised to check before they travel and allow more time for their journey. We would like to thank customers for their patience and understanding while this work is carried out.”

Dave Meredith, East Midlands Railway customer services director, said: “We would like to thank customers for their patience while these important works take place. We are advising customers to check how the rail replacement service might impact the length of time needed to complete their trip. More information is available on our website.”

Mark Chapman, technical and planning director at Taylor Wimpey East Anglia, said: “We are delighted to be able to start work on the new subway, which will benefit so many people in and around Wymondham. We are grateful to the team at Network Rail Anglia for supporting us to ensure that the works to the subway are efficiently progressed. We look forward to the subway being completed and opened to the public later next year.”

Robert Church, managing director of Vistry Eastern, which is building new homes under its Bovis Homes brand at Birch Gate in Wymondham, said: “We are working closely with Network Rail and the train operators to ensure that the enabling works for the building of the subway in Wymondham are completed with minimum disruption to rail services.

“Once completed, the subway will offer improved pedestrian access to the town centre for people living to the south of the railway line and encourage journeys on foot or bicycle.

“We are providing this key infrastructure improvement alongside a £2 million package of investment in local facilities which is being made as part of the planning agreement for the wider development of new homes.

“We would like to thank passengers and local people for their patience and understanding as the work is carried out.”