Check before you travel – that’s the message from Network Rail bosses as a £3.6 million project to improve the tracks near Sandy will see no trains running between Hitchin and Peterborough over the next two weekends.

Anyone wishing to travel by train along that section will need to use a replacement bus service instead this weekend – February 4 and 5 – and the following Saturday and Sunday, February 11 and 12.

Train operator Great Northern will be running the rail replacement buses, which will consist of a quicker service between Hitchin and Peterborough, stopping at St Neots and Huntingdon, and one which stops at all stations – Peterborough, Huntingdon, St Neots, Sandy, Biggleswade, Arlesey and Hitchin.

The Cambridge to London King’s Cross service, going through Baldock and Letchworth, is unaffected, with passengers travelling on the Virgin Trains East Coast service diverting along this route.

The work near Sandy involves changing switches and crossings – also known as ‘points’ which allow trains to move from one track to another – used by both Virgin Trains East Coast and Great Northern services.

Rob McIntosh, route managing director for Network Rail, said: “This renewal project is part of our railway upgrade plan and will increase the reliability of a section of track which is very heavily used by passenger and freight services every day, with the result being a better railway for passengers travelling – not just through Bedfordshire but along the entire length of the East Coast Main Line.

“There isn’t ever a good time to disrupt passengers but it is essential that this piece of work is carried out when trains are not running, and I apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.”

For information on timetables and for travel advice visit www.nationalrail.co.uk.