Replacement bus services and amended timetables will be in force at weekends this summer for East Midlands Railway (EMR) passengers as a new phase of the upgrading work begins. It follows an earlier phase of the work that led to parts of the line to London being closed over 11 weekends since February - a phase that ended earlier this month.

The good news is that trains will still operate from Leicester Railway Station to London. However, there will be amended timetables, much longer journey times and the trains will not stop at Market Harborough. Network Rail will be providing a bus service to get Market Harborough travellers to and from the stations in Leicester and Kettering.

The amended weekend timetables start on Saturday, June 21, and will continue for every Saturday and Sunday for six weekends in total from that date. The work will include lowering parts of the track through Leicestershire to accommodate electric trains using overhead power lines.

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Gavin Crook of Network Rail said: “We know the disruption caused by these important upgrades will frustrate some passengers but the long-term benefits will be significant. Improvements will make the line more resilient, improving train performance, while lowering the track, where possible, will minimise disruption and costs.

“We’re sorry that journeys will take longer than usual while the work is taking place, but these improvements will contribute to a more efficient railway with greener, smoother journeys in the future.”

Mr Crook said the work to lower the track would be cheaper than raising the height of bridges - and also avoid road traffic issues where bridges need to be rebuilt. The weekend work will also involve signal and communications equipment upgrades, as well as drainage work to make the track more resilient to flooding.

The track lowering this summer will focus on the line from Wigston to the East Midlands Parkway station, just over the border in Nottinghamshire.

The work, continuing until Sunday, July 27, will see the timetables for all EMR services between London St Pancras and Nottingham or Sheffield being amended. Travel times between the capital and Leicester station will be about 45 minutes longer than normal.

Philippa Cresswell, customer experience director for EMR said: “We recommend customers planning to travel to or from London over six weekends between Saturday, June 21 and Sunday, July 27 to check their journey in advance of travelling.

“On the affected weekends services on our Intercity route will be diverted between Leicester and Kettering. This will extend journey times by approximately 45 minutes. Customers travelling from Market Harborough will need to use a rail replacement bus to complete part of their journey as no trains will be able to call at Market Harborough. Our Connect route will run between Wellingborough and London St Pancras only, with Intercity trains calling additionally at Corby, Kettering, and Wellingborough.

“We would like to thank our customers for their patience whilst Network Rail upgrade the overhead power lines to enable our bi-mode trains to run on our Intercity route in the future. This work will greatly benefit our customers with more reliable journeys to and from London.”