Essential railway upgrades will shut large parts of the East Coast Main Line across several weekends and affect services between London, Peterborough, and Royston.
The works, taking place as part of the £1.4 billion East Coast Digital Programme, will see the introduction of digital signalling and other improvements.
Trains will be unable to run on the affected routes on Saturday, January 31 to Sunday, February 1, Saturday, February 7 to Sunday, February 8, Sunday, February 15 and Saturday, February 21 to Sunday, February 22.
Long-distance operators will run amended services and rail replacement buses will be in operation.
Ricky Barsby, Network Rail’s head of access integration, ECDP, said: “A significant amount of vital work is taking place over these four weekends, including further steps to introduce digital signalling to the East Coast Main Line.
“This investment will mean a more reliable, greener and even safer railway for the millions of people who travel on this route each year.
“We appreciate that these upgrades will affect journeys, and we’re grateful to passengers for their patience while our teams carry out this essential work.”
Additional infrastructure upgrades planned during the closures include track renewals at Finsbury Park, St Neots, Sandy and Offord; improvements to switches and crossings at Hitchin, Woodwalton and Wood Green; overhead line works at Stevenage and between Sandy and St Neots; drainage renewals at locations including Stevenage, Harringay, Biggleswade and Langford and platform upgrades at Alexandra Palace.
The digital signalling project aims to replace traditional lineside signals with real-time information delivered directly to the driver’s cab.
A spokesperson for the train operating companies added: “We’ll be working hard to keep passengers moving while this essential work takes place.
“Rail replacement services and revised timetables will help people reach their destinations and our teams will be on hand to support customers.
“We encourage everyone to check their journey before travelling.”
Disruption is expected on Thameslink and Great Northern routes, with no train services between London and Peterborough or Royston and no trains to Stevenage via Hertford North on affected dates.
