King's Cross station will face almost complete shutdown on Sunday due to major Network Rail engineering works, hitting travel plans during the final summer bank holiday weekend. The disruption affects Grand Central, Great Northern, LNER and Lumo services on one of the busiest travel periods of the year.
Sunday will see the worst impact, with no Grand Central, LNER or Lumo trains running from the major London terminal. Some Great Northern services will operate, but passengers face further delays from engineering works across Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire requiring bus replacements.
Complete service cancellations
Grand Central will run no services at all on Sunday, with limited Saturday and Monday cancellations affecting the evening Sunderland service and Monday morning London departure. LNER faces a complete shutdown from Saturday 10pm through Sunday, with some services starting from Peterborough instead of London.
Lumo passengers will see most Sunday services cancelled, with remaining trains starting from Newcastle or terminating at Peterborough. Rail replacement coaches will connect these truncated services to London for passengers willing to make the extended journey.
Wider transport chaos expected
According to WalesOnline, 18 million car journeys are predicted nationwide over the bank holiday weekend, with 3.4 million on Saturday alone. The rail disruption forms part of 261 engineering projects across Britain during the weekend.
CrossCountry strike action compounds the travel problems, with no Saturday services and very limited Monday operations, as WalesOnline reports. National Express is adding 9,000 extra coach seats to help compensate for the rail disruption.
Alternative routes advised
The timing particularly affects Notting Hill Carnival attendees, with Transport for London advising alternative routes via Paddington and Shepherd's Bush stations. Great Northern and Thameslink will run amended timetables with buses replacing trains between key stations including Potters Bar to Royston from Saturday evening.
Passengers should check National Rail's journey planner before travelling during the bank holiday weekend. LNER services resume from London Kings Cross after 8am on Monday morning.
Sources used: "MyLondon", "WalesOnline" Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
