East Midlands Railway, Thameslink and Cross Country services will be affected by the next stage of upgrades on the Midland Mainline, which are due to take place in February and March.

The works to be carried out by Network Rail will take place over a series of four weekends, and includes installation and setup of new overhead wires and track renewal, to enable faster, reliable and greener journeys with quieter smoother rides.

The works will affect the Bedford area and the line between Kettering and Leicester, which will be a step closer to electrification when this set of works is completed.

Overview of the planned works and affected lines and services

25 February: There will be no trains to Market Harborough. East Midlands Railway services will be diverted around the closure, and buses will replace trains between Leicester, Market Harborough and Kettering. This will enable Network Rail to install new overhead powerlines between Kettering and Leicester.

9/10, 17, 23/24 March: Across three consecutive weekends, track will be replaced and re-laid between Syston and Helpston. Cross Country services will be affected between Leicester and Peterborough on theses days, with a rail replacement bus serving customers along the closed section of line.

10 March: East Midlands Railway will be running trains north of Bedford, and shuttle trains between St Pancras and Luton. Buses will replace trains between Luton and Bedford. This is to allow for replacement of the overhead wires south of Bedford.

There will also be no Thameslink services between St Pancras and London Bridge via Farringdon, because of maintenance.

Passengers are advised to take the Underground or TFL Buses between the affected stations. No trains will stop at Kentish town on this day.

16/17 March: East Midlands Railway will be running trains north of Bedford, and shuttle trains between St Pancras and Luton.

Thameslink services will be running this weekend, but amended to run south from Luton and on through central London. With rail replacement buses again replacing trains between Luton and Bedford.

This is to allow for continuing replacement of the overhead wires south of Bedford.

23/24 March: Works on overhead power lines south of Bedford continue with Luton station seeing installation and replacement points, crossings and electric components.

East Midlands Railway will continue to run services north from Bedford.

Passengers are requested this weekend to travel via Thameslink from St Pancras to Hitchin on the East Coast Main Line where a replacement bus will transfer passengers to Bedford, where they can continue their journey by train to the Midlands.

Thameslink will be only be operating trains south from Harpenden. Buses will replace trains from Harpenden to Luton and Bedford. Additionally,

Thameslink trains will not stop at London Bridge because of engineering works in South East London.

Network Rail is strongly advising all customers travelling over the affected weekends to check their journey before travelling, either via National Rail Enquiries or through their train operator.

Gavin Crook, Principal Programme Sponsor for Network Rail’s East Midlands route, said: “The engineering work to the Midland Main Line is essential in improving the journeys of passengers, allowing for faster, more reliable and smoother services in the future. Our teams will be working around the clock throughout the affected days to deliver these vital improvements.”

Dave Meredith, Customer Services Director for EMR said: “We are encouraging customers planning to travel to or from London in February and March to check their journeys in advance on the EMR website. Customers should expect extended journey times with rail replacement buses and amended timetables in place. We would like to thank our customers for their patience whilst the engineering work to electrify the Midland Main Line takes place. This work will greatly benefit our customers in the future with more reliable, quicker journeys.”

Jenny Saunders, Customer Services Director for Govia Thameslink Railway, said: “We also thank our customers for their patience and understanding while Network Rail carry out vital modernisation along this important route. We’re running replacement buses where needed for passengers to complete their journeys, which means those journeys will take longer than normal, so we advise everyone to plan ahead and re-check their schedules before setting off.”