Works to cause rail disruption across March

Rail passengers have been warned of disruption to services next month while London Liverpool Street is closed for five days and other works take place.

Network Rail said it would be undertaking upgrade projects on the Great Eastern Main Line that runs through Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk, and on the West Anglia Main Line in Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire.

The works, which included track and rail renewal and drainage renovations, would take place every weekend in March while Liverpool Street was closed on 15, 21, 22, 28 and 29 March.

Katie Frost, Network Rail's route director for Anglia, apologised for the disruption.

Martin Beable, Greater Anglia's managing director, added that passengers should check before they travel.

During Liverpool Street's closure, the station would be shut to all Greater Anglia, Stansted Express, c2c, Elizabeth line and London Overground services.

The entrance to the Elizabeth line would remain open during the works except on 22 March when the line would be closed for renovations, according to Transport for London.

Work Liverpool Street would include improvements to its roof and its drainage.

During the weekends, there would be a range of changes to services across the region with bus replacement services between certain areas.

Greater Anglia said full details of alterations could be found on its website.

Other works taking place include station and platform works at Stratford, Rayleigh and Wickford as well as Hockley in Essex.

There would also be some vegetation management and litter clearance, overhead line work, infrastructure work at Ilford depot and surveys and inspections of structures along the lines.

"There is never a good time to close the railway, but our planned work will deliver an extensive amount of renewals, repairs, maintenance and necessary inspections on these busy, well used routes into London Liverpool Street," Frost said.

"Much of the work needs to be done while trains are not running to keep our staff safe, and we are maximising the time we have to do as much as we can," she added.

Beable added: "These projects will help improve and maintain very busy parts of the network, which will help to maintain our high standards of punctuality and reliability."

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