A team of 100 Network Rail engineers will be working on Christmas Day and Boxing Day to upgrade overhead wires

Network Rail says it will be “working around the clock” over the festive period to carry out key upgrades to the East Coast Main Line at in the area around Hadley Wood Station.

The project, costing £1.6million, will see improvements to overhead line equipment (OLE), which is used to power trains on the route.

Teams will be working to replace nine overhead line stanchions over a distance of 600 metres. Once complete, Network Rail says passengers will benefit from a more modern and reliable railway, with fewer instances of disruption.

The work is taking place while no trains run on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, meaning the upgrades can take place without impacting on passengers.

Josh Mayer, an OLE project engineer on Network Rail’s east coast route, will be working on the project over the festive period. He said: “The work we are doing at Hadley Wood this Christmas will help us to provide a more resilient and reliable railway for our passengers, helping them get to where they need to be on time.

“We’re carrying out the work when no services are scheduled to run, reducing disruption for travellers.

“We look forward to completing this work and seeing passengers benefit from smoother journeys and a more modern railway.”

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