No Great Northern or Thameslink trains through Stevenage all day on Sunday 30 August. The replacement buses, the hours either side, and why the line is shut.

There will be no Great Northern or Thameslink trains through Stevenage for the whole of Sunday 30 August. Saturday evening and Monday morning go too.

Great Northern has published the plan on its East Coast Digital Programme page. This is not a thinned-out bank holiday timetable. On the Sunday, the operator says no trains will run between Potters Bar and Peterborough, between Potters Bar and Royston, or between Hertford North and Stevenage. Stevenage sits inside all of that.

The three days

Saturday 29 August, from about 22:00 until the end of service. No trains between Potters Bar and Peterborough, Potters Bar and Royston, or Hertford North and Stevenage. Replacement buses start earlier, from about 20:00, on these routes:

  • Potters Bar and Hitchin
  • Hitchin and Royston
  • Hitchin and Peterborough
  • Hertford North and Stevenage
  • St Albans City and Stevenage via Hatfield
  • Luton Airport Parkway and Stevenage via Hitchin

Sunday 30 August, all day. The same three sections are shut. Replacement buses run between:

  • Potters Bar and Hitchin
  • Hitchin and Royston
  • Hitchin and Peterborough
  • Hertford North and Stevenage
  • St Albans City and Hitchin via Hatfield
  • Luton Airport Parkway and Stevenage via Hitchin
  • St Neots and Bedford

Note the change from Saturday: the St Albans City bus runs only as far as Hitchin on the Sunday, not to Stevenage.

Some trains do still run on the Sunday, just not through here:

  • London King’s Cross and Potters Bar
  • Moorgate and Potters Bar or Hertford North
  • Letchworth Garden City and Cambridge or King’s Lynn

Monday 31 August, from the first train until about 09:00. The same three sections are shut, with buses between Potters Bar and Hitchin, Hitchin and Royston, Hitchin and Peterborough, and Hertford North and Stevenage.

The two published sources disagree slightly on when the Monday clears. Great Northern says services are affected “until approximately 09:00”. National Rail’s August bank holiday page says the work finishes “at 08:00 on Monday 31 August”. Plan for the later of the two.

What it means for you

If you were going to London on the Sunday, the train is not an option from Stevenage. The only King’s Cross service that day runs from Potters Bar southwards. Great Northern names Stevenage on two of the Sunday bus routes, to Hertford North and to Luton Airport Parkway via Hitchin. Stevenage lies between Potters Bar and Hitchin on the main line, but the operator’s summary does not list calling points for that bus, so check the National Rail journey planner rather than assuming it stops here.

Allow much longer than usual. A replacement bus does not keep to train timings, and this closure also pushes long-distance East Coast Main Line traffic onto other routes. National Rail warns that journeys between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh, Newcastle, Leeds, Hull and Doncaster are affected too, so the buses and the trains that are running will be carrying people who would normally be nowhere near them.

If you cycle, only a fold-up bike is allowed on a replacement bus. Full-size bikes can go on the alternative rail routes, subject to the normal time restrictions.

If you need step-free access, Great Northern says its replacement vehicles are accessible and that where that is not possible its teams will plan an alternative journey. The Assisted Travel line is 0800 058 2844.

Driving instead? Council car parks charge the ordinary weekday rate on a bank holiday Monday, not a Sunday rate. There is also a run of road closures in the town that week, including Chells Way from Monday 24 August. Both are covered on our Stevenage roadworks and travel page.

Why the line is shut

The work is the East Coast Digital Programme. Great Northern describes it as replacing traditional lineside signals, “many of which were installed in the 1970s”, with in-cab digital signalling. The programme covers the Northern City Line between Finsbury Park and Moorgate, and then the southern East Coast Main Line between King’s Cross and Peterborough, which is the stretch Stevenage sits on.

That is why these closures come as complete blocks rather than as single-line working: signalling cannot be swapped over with trains running through it.

The next one

Great Northern says the closure after this is currently planned for Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 November, with details to follow on the same page. Our Stevenage train times page covers the normal service, including which operator is quickest to which London terminal.

Sources