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Passengers told: Don’t travel to London by train this weekend

King's Cross Station in London. Photograph: Colin / Wikimedia Commons
@ Transport

Don’t be planning to train it to London this weekend.

King’s Cross Station is closed from Saturday, 29 February to Sunday, 1 March, as more work takes place to upgrade the East Coast Main Line.

Over the weekend, Network Rail engineers will test new signalling equipment at Stevenage station as part of work to construct a new platform there, which will allow more train services to run.

The testing of the signalling system can only be done safely when no trains are running, so the line between Peterborough and London King’s Cross will be closed.

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Passengers are advised to travel on either Friday, 28 February or Monday, 2 March.

However those travelling on these days should book in advance and reserve a seat where possible, as these services are expected to be “exceptionally busy”.

The £1.2 billion East Coast Upgrade will allow for faster, more frequent services, providing passengers with 10,000 extra seats on long distance services per day.

It will also improve the reliability of services. Ed Akers of Network Rail said:

  • This work will now not impact on services until June and I would like to thank passengers for their continued patience whilst we work on the upgrade, which will bring huge benefits to passengers when completed.