CRITICS have branded the two-month cancellation of weekend trains in Essex to make way for a £15 million rail upgrade as a "disgrace" and a "blockade".
Buses will replace all trains between Colchester and Shenfield on the Abellio Greater Anglia line between Saturday, January 31, and Sunday, March 22 – doubling journey times in the process.
The Network Rail announcement on Tuesday has stoked fears of engineering works creeping into the Monday rush hour.
"It's going to be a terrible inconvenience," said Essex Rail Users Federation chairman Derek Monnery.
"There is no alternative rail route from London all the way up to Norwich apart from going via Cambridge, and so they have just thrown everybody on busses, which are uncomfortable and jerk and shudder.
"It just doesn't seem right at all.
"I think for certain people travelling to football matches, whether it's to Ipswich, Colchester, Norwich or to London, it will be a major inconvenience."
Weekend travellers in Colchester and Chelmsford will have to take a bus, which will run four times per hour on Saturday and twice per hour on Sundays, to Billericay where they can catch the train.
Downtrodden commuters in Braintree will suffer worst, having to catch a bus purely to take them to Witham, where they will pick up the Colchester to Billericay bus.
Passengers make an estimated 90,000 journeys on the London to Norwich line through the weekend and 115,000 per weekday.
Catastrophic
"The decision was made with minimal consultation and I think the rail users have come well down the pecking order," added Mr Monnery.
"If the engineering works overran into Monday it would be pretty catastrophic."
Chairman of the Braintree and Witham Rail Users' Association David Bigg said: "We are calling this the blockade. We are very concerned that we are going to have Monday morning chaos.
"Based on past performance it is likely the work could overrun into Mondays and disrupt the morning commute.
"I do hope the planning is robust and we'll get our train service back in time on Monday morning.
"At the moment it doesn't look good, I hope the pain does give us real gain."
Chelmsford MP and Essex Representative of the Transport Taskforce Simon Burns said: "Of course it's a bore for those people wanting to travel by train at the weekend but the line needs to be upgraded as part of the ongoing investment to improve the service over the longer term it provides to passengers and this is the least inconvenient time available to do it.
"It will be unforgivable if there are disruptions to the regular service from 5.20am on the Monday morning because they have got their planning out of sync.
"All hell would break out because it would be unacceptable and I would pester and badger Network Rail so they are even more bored with me than I think they already are."
Frustrating for racing
Andy Waitt, clerk of the new Chelmsford City Racecourse course, said he was frustrated the course was not told about the disruption further in advance.
The course in Great Leighs will host its first fixture to the general public on Sunday, February 1, one day into the disruption schedule.
Mr Waitt said: "This is potentially very frustrating if it affects our crowd numbers and it will be a hurdle for people who want to come here for racing by train.
"It is something we would have liked to have known about."
An Abellio Greater Anglia spokesperson said: "Network Rail has robust plans in place as part of the forward planning for these works and is doing everything possible to avoid any overruns.
"We will be working closely with Network Rail throughout the period of these engineering works to help ensure that the progression of the work programme is monitored closely each weekend."
A Network Rail spokesperson said: "Handing the railway back on time is absolutely crucial and is a major part of planning for these works.
"We can reassure passengers that every engineer is aware of how important it is to return the railway to use on time.
"It is only by investing in improving our infrastructure that we can deliver the safe and reliable railway that many people rely on."
