London King's Cross sees disruption as four-day engineering works begin

Commuters travelling from London King's Cross will face significant disruption as engineering works are carried out.

No long-distance services will run on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) to or from King's Cross between Saturday and Tuesday, Network Rail said.

Work is normally carried out on weekends and bank holidays with fewer commuters but Network Rail has relaxed this policy on the ECML.

Officials said signalling was being upgraded.

Engineering work affecting King's Cross was also carried out last weekend.

Network Rail said doing the work over two weekends and two weekdays avoids disrupting up to five consecutive weekends.

The project is part of a £1bn scheme to upgrade and digitise signalling.

Ricky Barsby, head of access and integration for Network Rail's East Coast Digital Programme, said this month's engineering work at the southern end of the ECML was "a significant milestone" for the project and would mean "smoother and more reliable journeys for passengers".

He also thanked passengers for their "patience and understanding".

Affected operators LNER, Hull Trains, Lumo and Grand Central said in a joint statement: "Our teams will be working extremely hard to ensure passengers reach their destination as quickly as possible while these upgrades are carried out.

"The latest travel information can be found on our websites and on our social media platforms and we advise passengers to plan ahead and check before they travel."

The operators advised passengers to check their websites and social media for the latest travel information.

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