Rotherham rail travellers heading to capital will be caught up in engineering work disruption
Bus replacement services will operate between Peterborough and London
Train travellers from Rotherham intending to use the East Coast mainline via Doncaster to London later this month may have to prepare for bus replacement services along part of the route.
National Rail engineers are carrying out digital signalling upgrade work between Peterborough or Letchworth and London on the last weekend of November.
Passengers are advised to check before travelling as the engineering work on Saturday November 28 and Sunday November 29 will mean rail replacement bus or coach services in operation for many journeys.
The work will see updates made to diagnostic systems, data and software to improve reliability. This will help prepare for more trains and services to begin using digital in-cab signalling during 2027.
No Grand Central services will run all weekend and on Monday November 30, the 7.48am London King’s Cross to Sunderland service will not run.
On Hull Trains between Hull and London St Pancras, two trains will run in each direction on the Saturday, and three trains will run in each direction on Sunday. But trains will not call at Doncaster, Retford or Grantham.
Most LNER services will start and terminate at Peterborough, with rail replacement coaches connecting customers to Bedford where Thameslink trains will operate to London St Pancras.
On the Saturday and Sunday, there will also be some LNER return train services from Newcastle to Bedford, where customers can connect onto Thameslink services to London – allowing them to complete their journey by train.
For information, customers should visit https://www.lner.co.uk/news/book-your-tickets-to-and-from-london-via-bedford/.
Ricky Barsby, Network Rail head of access integration (ECDP), said: “We have begun to introduce digital in-cab signalling to the East Coast Main Line and we’re getting ready to extend its use to more services.
“When all trains operate with digital signalling there will be reliability benefits through less reliance on trackside equipment and better ability to recover from disruption.
“We are also taking the opportunity to do other vital engineering work on the track and lineside to improve the reliability of day-to-day services.
“We’re sorry to anyone whose journey will be affected. Those customers who have choice about when they can travel may want to consider travelling on days before or after, which are unaffected by work.
“For those who need to travel on the affected weekend, we have plans in place to keep passengers moving.”