Network Rail, East Midlands Railway and Thameslink are reminding passengers, who are planning to travel in the days before and after Christmas, that no trains will be running from London St Pancras, Harpenden and Bedford from Saturday 21st to Sunday 29th December.

As the introduction of the new East Midlands Aurora train fleet draws ever nearer, offering faster and smoother journeys from London to the Central midlands, the nine-day closure of the southern end of the Midland Mainline, will enable Network Rail engineers to carry out repairs and upgrades between St Pancras and Bedford.

The work includes replacing a road bridge deck over the line at Agar Grove in Camden, and a new bridge is to be slid into place beneath the railway at Radlett to facilitate access to the Strategic Freight Interchange.

While the line is closed, works on reducing lineside vegetation, track inspections, and the renewal of signalling and overhead power lines will also be taking place along the closed 11-mile section.

Passengers planning to travel from London St Pancras to destinations on the Midland Main Line, such as Luton Airport Parkway, St Albans, Bedford, Nottingham, Derby, and Sheffield, should expect to face significant disruptions during this period, with extended journey times and a rail replacement bus service in operation for part of their journey from St Pancras to Bedford.

“We would like to apologise to passengers who will be impacted by this vital work over the festive period. This work is essential, and it will mean smoother, faster, and more reliable journeys for customers.

Christmas is a unique opportunity where fewer people are travelling and carrying out work then, is less disruptive to the community and therefore the best time for our teams to access the track.

While most of the network over Christmas will be operating as normal, we are reminding all passengers to check their journeys before they travel as there is engineering work on several parts of the network on different dates during December.”

Daniel Matthews, head of operations delivery for Network Rail

Thameslink would also like to remind passengers intending to travel across London on the weekend after Christmas day that train services will not be operating between London St Pancras and London Bridge from Friday 27th to Sunday 29th December due to engineering works regarding track replacement.