East Midlands Railway: Travellers urged to check before travelling over Christmas due to track upgrade

East Midlands Railway, which runs services between Sheffield and St Pancras is not running trains on Christmas Day or Boxing Day, and is then running reduced services between December 27 until January 4.

Its Intercity services will be affected because of major upgrades to the track between St Pancras and Kentish Town.

Neil Grabham, customer services director at East Midlands Railway, said: “We know that many of our passengers will be using our train services to travel around and visit family and friends over the Christmas period. Any passengers planning on travelling between Monday 27th December and Tuesday 4th January are advised to check our website and plan their journey in advance, as we will be running a reduced EMR Intercity service to and from London St Pancras.

“We would like to thank passengers for their patience whilst this crucial engineering works are taking place.”

Gary Walsh, route director for Network Rail’s East Midlands route, said: “As most people open their presents and enjoy the festivities, our teams will be taking the opportunity to make major progress on the final stages of this programme. The current slab track has served this busy line well for forty years, but we’re replacing it now to make sure trains can continue running safely and reliably for years to come.

“We can only complete this work safely when a reduced train service is running. I want to thank passengers for their continued patience and ask anyone who plans to travel over the Christmas period to check their journey, plan ahead and allow plenty of time.”

A detailed list of EMR’s services over the Christmas period can be found here.