There will be no Christmas festivities for over 100 Network Rail engineers as they will be working around the clock to carry out key upgrades to the East Coat Main Line at Hadley Wood in Hertfordshire.

The work is part of a £1.6 million investment to improvement the overhead line equipment (OLE) from which electric trains draw power on the route. Teams of engineers working on a 600 metres length of the line will replace nine stanchions that support the overhead lines.

The purpose of the work is to provide passengers from a more modern and reliable railway, with less chance of services being disrupted. It is being carried out over the Christmas period because with no trains running on Christmas Day or Boxing Day, the upgrades will have no effect on passengers.

Elsewhere in Hertfordshire over Christmas, Network Rail engineers will be carrying out work to prepare the East Coast Main line for its Electronic Digital Control Programme (ECDP) at sites between Welwyn Garden City and Hitchin,

Josh Mayer, an OLE Project engineer on Network Rail’s East Coast route, will be working on the project over the festive period.

Josh said: “The work we are doing at Hadley Wood this Christmas will help us to provide a more resilient and reliable railway for our passengers, helping them get to where they need to be on time.

“We’re carrying out the work when no services are scheduled to run, reducing disruption for travellers.

“We look forward to completing this work and seeing passengers benefit from smoother journeys and a more modern railway.”