East Midlands Railway has advised passengers heading to London over the weekend of the 22nd and 23rd of April to plan ahead due to planned engineering works alongside major sporting events including the London Marathon and FA Cup semi-finals which will see increased numbers of passengers travelling on services.

The coming weekend will see the train operator’s Intercity services both to and from London operating at a reduced level in order to support vital electrification work being carried out by Network Rail. The engineering work will take place on the Midland Main Line and will see journey times on Sunday increased by as much as 1 hour.

EMR Connect services making their way between Corby and London St Pancras International will be running hourly on Sunday with services starting and ending at Wellingborough. Customers are able to access rail connections for travel to Kettering and Corby.

Between Leicester and Market Harborough and between Market Harborough and Kettering will see rail replacement bus services in operation.

Major sporting events, including the London Marathon and FA Cup semi-final games, will also see a great deal more people travelling by train than usual with services expected to be extremely busy on the East Midlands Railway Network

Due to increased passenger numbers, queuing systems will be in place in order to manage key locations efficiently and because of this, customers are advised to add extra time to travel plans to get through the station before boarding their train.

For full information regarding East Midlands Railway services please visit: https://www.eastmidlandsrailway.co.uk/travel-information/service-disruptions/amended-east-midlands-railway-services-to-from-london-st

Neil Grabham, Customer Services Director for East Midlands Railway, said:

“We are asking any customers planning to travel to or from London this weekend to allow plenty of time to complete their journey.

“We are expecting our services to be very busy throughout the duration of the weekend and with major sporting events taking place, we want to make sure we can get our customers to these events, and home, as safely as possible.

“If you’re travelling to and from the FA Cup Semi-Final at Wembley, take extra care planning your journey home. We strongly advise you to start your journey home as soon as the match ends – this will give you the most services to choose from and improve your chances of getting home quickly and comfortably – please don’t rely on the last service of the day.

“On Sunday, on the day of the London Marathon, rail replacement buses will keep passengers moving between Leicester and Market Harborough, and between Market Harborough and Kettering.”