Train travel disruption over Christmas for work ahead of new EMR Aurora trains in 2025

A CGI of one of the Aurora fleet
-Credit: (Image: EMR)


Major improvement work to overhead electric power lines will disrupt rail travel to and from the East Midlands and London over the Christmas period. The work is being carried out by Network Rail to allow the introduction of East Midland Railway's (EMR) new Aurora bi-mode fleet next year.

The new fleet, which will be able to run on electric and diesel, will provide EMR customers with more seats and modern interiors. Customers travelling between Saturday, December 21 and Sunday, December 29 are being urged to check their journeys in advance. Journey times will be significantly longer with rail replacement buses and amended timetables in place.

No EMR services will run between London St Pancras and Bedford - in both directions. Customers travelling north from London will need to take a train from London Euston to Milton Keynes.

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And customers travelling south to London St Pancras will transfer to rail replacement buses, which will operate between Bedford and Milton Keynes. From there, customers can continue their journey into London Euston via the West Coast main line.

As usual there will be no services at all on Christmas Day and Boxing Day and the EMR platforms at London St Pancras will be closed for the duration of the works.

Customers should be aware that journey times are expected to be extended by up to one hour due to the replacement bus services. EMR will provide up to 12 buses per hour between Bedford and Milton Keynes in both directions, ensuring frequent connections to West Coast main line services.

All services will finish earlier than usual on Christmas Eve, and post-Christmas services will start later than normal on Friday, December 27.

On Monday, December 30, some early services from London St Pancras will also be affected due to the unavoidable displacement of trains throughout the engineering works.

Although there will be the same capacity for luggage on our rail replacement bus services, EMR is advising customers to only bring what they are comfortable with carrying themselves. EMR will have additional staff on hand at key stations and along alternative routes to assist passengers.

Philippa Cresswell, EMR customer service director, said: “We recommend customers planning to travel to or from London between December 21 and 29 to check their journeys in advance by looking for updates on the EMR website.

"We are working closely with other operators to keep customers moving throughout the festive period; however, journey times will be significantly longer than normal with rail replacement buses and amended timetables in place.

"We would like to thank our customers for their patience whilst these vital engineering upgrades take place. This work will directly benefit our customers in the future, allowing the introduction of our new Aurora bi-mode trains.