Over Sunday 5 and Monday 6 April there will be changes to several parts of the line, including:
- Closure of the Great Eastern Mainline between London Liverpool Street and Ingatestone/Wickford on Sunday 5 and Monday 6 April. Passengers travelling beyond Ingatestone/Wickford will be able to use the Central Line to Newbury Park, where a bus replacement service will take passengers to Ingatestone and Wickford. Passengers travelling between London Liverpool Street and Ingatestone/Wickford are advised to take the Central Line service to Stratford, then take the TfL Route 86 bus stopping at all stations to Romford, where a bus replacement service will continue to Ingatestone/Wickford.
- Bus replacement services will operate on the East Suffolk branch line between Ipswich and Saxmundham/Felixstowe Town on Sunday 5 and Monday 6 April
- Bus replacement services will operate on the Ely to Peterborough branch line on Sunday 5 April
- Closure of the North London Line between Stratford and Camden Road on Sunday 5 April
- Early morning service alterations on the Liverpool Street to Stansted line on Sunday 5 and Monday 6 April
Network Rail is advising everybody who is planning to travel by train this Easter weekend to check before they travel by visiting nationalrail.co.uk, to ensure that they plan ahead for any service changes.
Network Rail is investing £170m on the Great Eastern Main Line in 2015, and these works are an essential part in delivering the improvements. They will be upgrading overhead lines at Chadwell Heath, Romford and Ilford on the main line between Ingatestone in Essex and London Liverpool Street and upgrading track at Brentwood to prepare for Crossrail services.
In January 2015, Network Rail started to renew the track foundations between Norwich and Stowmarket. This work will continue for the rest of the year and into 2016. Upgrades are being carried out on Saturdays and Sunday nights, and on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesdays from mid-to-late evening onwards to avoid the peak periods when most commuters will be travelling. On January 31, eight weekends of upgrades between Manningtree and Shenfield began to upgrade the railway at Colchester, Marks Tey, Witham and Chelmsford. Seven weekends of work have been completed and the last weekend of work is on March 21 and 22.
Over Easter in West Anglia Network Rail will also be carrying out bridge survey works between Ely and Peterborough on Sunday April 5 at four different structures in preparation for bridge strengthening work. This work will mean alterations to Abellio Greater Anglia, Cross Country and East Midlands Trains services.
On the East Suffolk branch line, between Ipswich and Saxmundham/Felixstowe Town, they will be carrying out Bridge Survey works on two structures on Sunday 5 and Monday 6 April.
The North London Line will be closed between Stratford and Camden Road on Sunday 5 April in order for work to be carried out in preparation for five car trains.