Rail users in Bedford are being warned of three upcoming weekend closures that will affect services to London over the next two months.
No East Midlands Railway trains will run between Bedford and London St Pancras on the affected dates, with Thameslink services also disrupted on parts of the route.
Weekend closures
The planned closures are:
- Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 May: No EMR trains between Bedford and London St Pancras, and no Thameslink services between Bedford and Mill Hill Broadway.
- Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 June: No EMR trains between Bedford and London St Pancras, and no Thameslink services between Bedford and London Bridge or Sutton.
- Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 June: No EMR trains between Bedford and London St Pancras, and no Thameslink services between Bedford and West Hampstead Thameslink.
Passengers are being advised to check before travelling and allow extra time for their journeys.
The closures follow a programme of engineering works carried out by Network Rail across Bedfordshire.
At Harlington station, an ageing footbridge has been removed after a new structure was installed in December. Improvements were also made to overhead line equipment.
At Luton station, early work has begun on a new accessible footbridge with lifts as part of the Government’s Access for All programme. The project is due to be completed in spring 2027.
Track upgrades
Further north, track renewal work was completed at Flitwick station, where rail, ballast and sleepers were replaced beside platform 1.
The track has been realigned to reduce the spacing between trains and the platform, with Network Rail saying the changes will improve reliability.
Dan Matthews, Network Rail operations director, said: “This has been a highly productive period of work, with our teams delivering several important projects safely and on time.
“We’re sorry to passengers whose journey was affected while the railway here was closed for two days.”
