No train went to London Central Station for nine days

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

As the introduction of the new East Midlands Aurora train fleet draws ever closer, offering faster and smoother journeys from London to the Central Midlands, the nine-day closure of the southern end of the Midland Mainline will allow 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 put in place under the railway at Radlett to facilitate access to the Strategic Freight Interchange.

While the line is closed, there will also be work to reduce vegetation along the line, track inspections and renewal of signal and overhead lines along the closed 11-mile stretch.

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 disruption during this period with extended journey times and a rail replacement bus service operating for part of their journey from St. Pancras to Bedford.

“We would like to apologize to passengers who will be affected by this vital work over the Christmas period. This work is vital and will mean smoother, faster and more reliable journeys for customers.

Christmas is a unique opportunity where fewer people are traveling and doing work, less disruptive to the community and therefore the best time for our team to access the pitch.

While most of the network will operate as normal over Christmas, we remind all passengers to check their journeys before they travel as engineering work is underway on several parts of the network on various dates throughout December.”

Daniel Matthews, Head of Operational Delivery for Network Rail

Thameslink would also like to remind passengers intending to travel across London over the weekend after Christmas Day that train services will not run between London St Pancras and London Bridge from Friday 27 to Sunday, December 29 due to track replacement engineering.