London services expected to be extremely busy this weekend: EMR Customers urged to plan ahead and check plans

East Midlands Railway (EMR) is advising customers who are travelling to London this weekend to plan ahead and understand how engineering works affect their plans.

On Saturday and Sunday, EMR's Intercity service to and from London St Pancras will be reduced to help important electrification work by Network Rail take place on the Midland Main Line. Journey times on Sunday will increase by up to an hour.

On Sunday, EMR Connect services between Corby and London St Pancras International will run hourly and start and terminate at Wellingborough. Rail connections are available to Kettering and Corby.

A rail replacement bus service will run between Leicester and Market Harborough, and between Market Harborough and Kettering.

EMR is expecting its services to be extremely busy due to a number of significant sporting events taking place on its network - including the London Marathon and FA Cup semi-final games.

To help manage the increase in customer numbers, passengers should expect queuing systems to be in place at key locations and are being urged to allow additional time to get through the station and board their train.

Customers who are attending large sporting events are being asked to plan ahead, know which trains are available to them and leave extra time when leaving venues to get home.

Neil Grabham, Customer Services Director for East Midlands Railway, said: “We are asking any customers planning to travel to or from London this weekend to allow plenty of time to complete their journey.

"We are expecting our services to be very busy throughout the duration of the weekend and with major sporting events taking place, we want to make sure we can get our customers to these events, and home, as safely as possible.

"If you're travelling to and from the FA Cup Semi-Final at Wembley, take extra care planning your journey home. We strongly advise you to start your journey home as soon as the match ends - this will give you the most services to choose from and improve your chances of getting home quickly and comfortably - please don't rely on the last service of the day.

“On Sunday, on the day of the London Marathon, rail replacement buses will keep passengers moving between Leicester and Market Harborough, and between Market Harborough and Kettering."

Full details of the services are available on EMR's website here: Amended East Midlands Railway services to / from London St Pancras International on Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 April | EMR

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