Starting this Saturday (21 October), work to improve access to the the town centre of Wymondham, Norfolk, and to maintain the railway, will mean that buses will replace trains for six consecutive days, up to and including Thursday 26 October. After revealing the closure four weeks ago, Network Rail is now reminding residents and passengers.

As part of planned growth in South Wymondham, housing developer Vistry Eastern is building a new subway under the railway between Wymondham station and the Station Road railway bridge, which will improve walking and cycling access to the rail station and the town centre. The new subway will allow the existing footpath under Station Road bridge to be removed, which will improve road traffic flow.

This month’s work will prepare for the construction, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of next year, subject to statutory approvals.

Greater Anglia and East Midlands Railway trains will not run on part of the line between Norwich and Cambridge / Stansted Airport / Liverpool Lime Street. From Monday 23 until Thursday 26 October, a stopping rail replacement bus service will run between Norwich and Thetford, and a direct rail replacement bus service between Norwich and Ely.

Network Rail will carry out engineering work during Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 October, making six consecutive days of rail replacement in total. Over the weekend, Greater Anglia run a rail replacement bus service between Thetford and Ely. Replacement buses will run between Norwich and Peterborough on the East Midlands Railway route.

Greater Anglia and East Midlands Railway passengers are advised to check before they travel on the operator’s website or the National Rail website.

To accommodate the replacement buses, Thetford car park will be closed for all six days, and Wymondham car park will be closed from Monday 23 to Thursday 26 October inclusive.

Network Rail’s specialist asset protection team is supporting the housing developers in building the subway, maintaining safety and protecting the rail infrastructure while projects are being completed.

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 this month, 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.

“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.”