Network Rail to conduct engineering work on East Coast Main Line on weekdays
Network Rail will carry out routine engineering work to upgrade the railway between Grantham and Doncaster, in the UK. As diversion routes and longer journey times will be in place, passengers are encouraged to plan their journey ahead of time on Tuesday, 16 and Wednesday, 17 May 2023.
The work will see improvements to the tracks, as well as to overhead line equipment, and drainage along the route. Typically, such tasks are performed during weekends and public holidays, as historically, fewer individuals used to travel during those times, but the pandemic has brought about a shift in travel patterns.
According to research conducted by the Great British Railways Transition Team, the number of weekend rail journeys across the country in February was 21 per cent higher than pre-pandemic levels. On the East Coast Main Line, recent data from LNER reveals that Fridays and Sundays have now become the preferred travel days for most people. To accommodate this new trend in rail travel, Network Rail and East Coast Main Line train operators will experiment with conducting the necessary work mid-week to minimise disruptions for passengers.
Changes to services
For the work to be carried out safely, the following changes to services will be in place on both 16 and 17 May 2023. First, LNER will be running a reduced service during this time, with extended journey times, and coach replacement services operating between Peterborough and Doncaster and intermediate stations, which include Retford, Newark Northgate and Grantham.
Hull Trains will be running a reduced service with extended journey times. Services will not call at Retford and Grantham. To compensate for the reduced service, train services will be run with extra capacity. Lumo services will be running a reduced service between Edinburgh and Newcastle only. Customers wishing to travel to and from London can connect through Hull Trains services. Lastly, Grand Central will run a reduced service with extended journey times due to diversions.
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