Following Friday’s serious rail accident at Bedford, passengers are being warned that services on the Midlands Main Line will be disrupted for much of the week.
Due to the accident, there will be no Thameslink services north of Luton and no East Midlands Railway (EMR) services south of Bedford for most of this week, with a limited rail-replacement bus service operating between Luton and Bedford.
As much as possible, rail passengers are being asked to avoid travelling through the affected areas until the lines have reopened.
While recovery and clearance work are underway, other train operators are accepting tickets for EMR customers. For customers whose journey is affected, tickets will be accepted on any alternative route. If customers decide to travel on EMR once the line is reopened, their connecting tickets on other operators will also be valid that day.
No EMR services can run between Bedford and London St Pancras. Trains that usually start and terminate at London St Pancras will instead start and terminate at Bedford.
From Monday, EMR will operate a reduced service on our Intercity and Connect routes, although Regional services will remain unaffected.
EMR Intercity and Connect services will operate one train per hour in each direction:
Rail Replacement buses will be provided in each direction as follows:
EMR Luton Airport Express services will not run whilst the recovery operation continues.
For the latest EMR information, go here.
From Monday, north of London, Thameslink will run a limited service between London St Pancras and Luton only. Thameslink and Great Northern will have ticket acceptance in place for EMR customers as well.
Elsewhere, north of London St Pancras on Thameslink, there will be:
The following limited rail replacement buses will run from Monday:
For the latest Thameslink information, go here.
Recovery operation
A recovery operation has begun to remove the damaged trains and carriages from the railway before engineers assess any damage and complete necessary repairs. The Overhead Line Equipment – the electrical wires that supply power to electric trains – must be removed while a temporary access road and concrete foundation are constructed to support crane operations.
Two 110-tonne rail-mounted Kirow Cranes will then lift the trains and carriages from the site, before a road-mounted crane moves them onto a low loader for transport by road. Following this, engineers will then assess the track and make any repairs before reinstating the overhead lines and completing final safety checks ahead of reopening the railway.
Ellie Burrows, Network Rail Eastern regional managing director, said: “The past two days have been incredibly tough for everyone involved in this incident and our deepest sympathies and condolences go out to the friends, family and colleagues of the train driver who tragically lost their life as well as the passengers who have been impacted by this incident.”
“Colleagues from across the rail industry are working together at pace to remove the trains and carriages from the railway and complete the repairs to the tracks. This is a complex and challenging task and our teams will be working tirelessly to reopen the railway so we can resume services between Bedford and London.
“While investigations are still at an early stage, current indications are that this was a tragic, isolated incident. We are focused on the safe reopening of the railway and getting services running as quickly as possible.
“During this time, our message to passengers is clear – please expect disruption to services through this area for the majority of next week and only travel if absolutely necessary.”
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