Thameslink and Great Northern London journeys via Finsbury Park affected on one Sunday in June as digital signalling upgrades continue

Great Northern and Thameslink passengers are being advised to plan ahead and check before they travel as digital signalling improvement work causes significant alterations to services along the East Coast Mainline and Hertford Loop into London on Sunday 15 June.

Many journeys will involve a rail replacement bus and take much longer than normal. Trains that are running will divert into Moorgate.

On Sunday 15 June, there will be no trains between:

• Finsbury Park and London King’s Cross/London St Pancras
• Peterborough/Royston and Potters Bar
• Hertford North and Stevenage

An amended train service will operate between:

• Royston and Cambridge/Ely/King’s Lynn
• Potters Bar and Moorgate
• Hertford North and Moorgate
• London St Pancras and Gatwick/Brighton

Replacement bus services will run between:

• Potters Bar and Hitchin
• St Albans and Stevenage via Hatfield
• Luton Airport Parkway and Stevenage via Hitchin
• Hitchin and Royston
• Peterborough and Bedford via Huntingdon and St Neots
• Hertford North and Stevenage

See editors’ notes for information about how the work affects LNER and other long-distance train operators.

The planned engineering work is part of the government-funded £1.4 billion East Coast Digital Programme (ECDP), which is introducing digital signalling technology to create a more reliable, efficient and greener railway.

The project recently saw the major milestone of traditional “traffic light” signals being removed from London’s Northern City line following its switch to fully digital signalling.

On Sunday 15 June, engineers will be carrying out:

• High-speed digital signalling testing between Welwyn Garden City and Hitchin
• Preparatory digital signalling work between Biggleswade and Peterborough

Jenny Saunders, Customer Services Director for Thameslink and Great Northern, said: “This important work by Network Rail working on the East Coast Digital Programme will cause significant changes to all train services running down the East Coast Main Line to Finsbury Park and London.

“Please, if you plan to travel on Sunday 15 June, plan ahead online at nationalrail.co.uk, allow plenty of extra time and check the state of the service before you leave for the station.”

Ricky Barsby, Network Rail head of access integration for the East Coast Digital Programme, said: “We’re continuing the rigorous programme of testing that is required ahead of the introduction of digital, in-cab signalling on the East Coast Main Line. Changing the way we signal trains will make our railway fit for the future, with more reliable and greener journeys.

“We have planned the testing carefully and this particular work will only affect journeys only on the Sunday, not the whole weekend. We thank all passengers affected for their patience and understanding.”

ENDS

Notes to editors

Click here to learn more about the ECDP project.

LNER will operate a reduced service starting and terminating at Peterborough. Rail replacement coaches will run between Peterborough and Bedford, where customers can join Thameslink services to London St Pancras.

Grand Central will run a reduced service from Sunderland to Peterborough, with coach connections to London King’s Cross. There will be no services to and from Bradford.

Hull Trains will have a reduced service which will divert to run to and from London St Pancras.

Lumo will operate a reduced service involving a non-stop rail replacement coach between London King’s Cross and Peterborough.

The engineering work The work on Sunday 15 June will involve further system testing using Grand Central Class 180 and GTR Class 717 trains. Over the weekend, the team will carry out high speed running between Finsbury Park and Huntingdon to test updated transitions in and out of the Welwyn to Hitchin section. All testing over the weekend will be conducted over the newly enabled General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) system, putting us a step closer to deploying European Train Control System (ETCS) over GPRS for the first time on any main line railway.

There will also be further work on “under track crossings” between Biggleswade and Peterborough, undertaken on Sunday evening after testing is completed.