Passengers are reminded that London journeys continue to be affected by a series of weekend engineering work on the Midland Main Line.

Network Rail is carrying out essential planned upgrades between Leicester and Kettering, meaning journeys are taking longer than usual.

The work includes upgrading track, signal and communications equipment and drainage systems, making the line more resilient and benefiting train performance.

There will also be progress made on electrification of the Midland Main Line between Wigston in Leicestershire and East Midlands Parkway. This will allow East Midlands Railway (EMR) to introduce its new greener fleet of bi-mode trains.

One aspect of this will be Network Rail physically lowering sections of track to accommodate overhead line equipment without the need to demolish and rebuild bridges, meaning less disruption and cost.

During the first three weekends of work, about 400 metres of rail has been renewed and the track lowered below Blaby Road bridge at Wigston, near Leicester, which is necessary for electrification of the line.

A compound has been set up ahead of the demolition of a bridge at Sutton Bonington, Nottinghamshire, also for electrical clearance.

Surveys and ground investigations have been carried out at various locations to support design work for electrification of the line north of Wigston, while progress has also been made with the renewal of Wigston Junction.

The ongoing work means changes to weekend services into early August, with passengers advised to plan ahead.

 “We’re grateful to passengers for their understanding as we carry out these vital improvements. We’ve made strong progress over the first few weekends, helping the efforts to make the railway more reliable and sustainable.

“We know the disruption caused by these important upgrades will frustrate some passengers, but the long-term benefits will be significant.

“We’re sorry that journeys will take longer than usual while the work is taking place, but these improvements will contribute to a more efficient railway with greener, smoother journeys in the future.”

 “On the affected weekends, services on our Intercity route, will be diverted between Leicester and Kettering. This will extend journey times by approximately 45 minutes. Customers travelling from Market Harborough will need to use a rail replacement bus to complete part of their journey as no trains will be able to call at Market Harborough.

“Our Connect route will run between Wellingborough and London St Pancras only, with Intercity trains calling additionally at Corby, Kettering, and Wellingborough. We would like to thank our customers for their patience whilst Network Rail upgrade the overhead power lines to enable our bi-mode trains to run on our Intercity route in the future. This work will greatly benefit our customers with more reliable journeys to and from London.”

Meanwhile, rail replacement buses will replace CrossCountry services between Nuneaton and Leicester on the weekends of Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 July and Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 July.

Also, track renewal and drainage improvement work will mean CrossCountry services between Leicester and Peterborough are replaced by buses on the weekend of Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 August.

Image credit: Network Rail