Network Rail has thanked passengers for their understanding and patience while it carried out extensive work on its Anglia route over the Christmas period.

Engineers successfully completed station construction programmes, track renewals, overhead line renewals, bridge demolitions and planned maintenance, despite poor weather. Workers also completed station work projects at Cambridge South and Beaulieu Park, connecting and completing new sections of mainline track to enable station construction to continue safely into 2024.

Network Rail completed the following work:

• bringing a new track alignment into operation at Cambridge South, allowing train services to be diverted around the area where the station platforms are being built
• installing signal gantries and associated equipment between Cambridge and Ely as part of a larger programme
• bringing new track into use at Beaulieu Park station, allowing trains to divert around the area where new platforms are being built while the new station building work continued
• replacing track points and adjusting overhead line equipment at Barking
• installing one thousand metres of new overhead wire at Stratford, completing all overhead wire renewals in this location and also
• renewing a set of track points at Stratford to improve reliability
• demolishing the Kingsbury Road bridge at the end of its useful life
• renewing around 300 metres of rail and 392 baseplates in the tunnel at Ipswich, and clearing the gullies and gutters to maintain drainage
• general maintenance work across the network to use the opportunity of existing railway closures to undertake surveys, inspections and repairs.

Work continues in the new year, and Network Rail is urging passengers to check journey plans via the National Rail or Greater Anglia websites and leave extra time if necessary to complete their journey.

Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 January:

• construction work for the new Beaulieu Park station; mainline services will not run between Chelmsford and Witham all weekend; rail replacement buses will run
• signalling work; buses replace trains between Norwich and Ely all weekend.

Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 January:

• track renewal works and overhead line works; buses replace trains between Colchester and Clacton-on-Sea and between Colchester and Walton-on-the-Naze all weekend
• track renewal works; buses will replace trains all weekend between Colchester and Ipswich, Colchester and Harwich Town (via Manningtree) and between Manningtree and Ipswich.

Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 January:

• track renewal and overhead line works; buses replace trains between Colchester and Clacton-on-Sea and between Colchester and Walton-on-the-Naze all weekend
• track renewal works; buses replace trains all weekend between Colchester and Ipswich, Colchester and Manningtree, and between Manningtree and Ipswich; connecting shuttle train service will operate between Manningtree and Harwich Town
• track renewal works; line closed between Cheshunt, Hertford East and Audley End all weekend; buses replace trains between Waltham Cross and Hertford East, Stansted Airport and Audley End.

Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 January

• track renewal works; buses replace trains all weekend between Colchester and Ipswich (fast), Colchester and Harwich Town (via Manningtree) and between Manningtree and Ipswich
• track renewal works; line closed between Cheshunt, Hertford East and Audley End all weekend; buses replace trains between Waltham Cross and Hertford East, Stansted Airport and Audley End
• replacement of Kingsbury Road bridge with a new structure, with bridge due to reopen by summer 2024.

Katie Frost, Network Rail’s route director for Anglia said: “Months of rigorous preparation for the engineering work over Christmas has been successfully delivered as planned and the railway reopened on schedule to passenger and freight services.

“Thank you to all our customers and passengers for your patience and understanding while we delivered a lot of work to maintain and improve the railway across Anglia.”