Hope Valley: Disruption warning ahead of rail upgrade work

The line near Bamford rail station is being upgraded

Work on a major upgrade of a stretch of railway through Derbyshire will affect train services for nine days, passengers have been warned.

Network Rail engineers will be carrying out work on the Hope Valley Railway Upgrade between Saturday 16 March and Sunday 24 March.

East Midlands Railway (EMR) said there would be reduced regional and intercity services.

The firm has apologised but said the upgrade was vital.

EMR said journeys between Sheffield, Derby and London St Pancras would take 20 minutes longer.

It also warned passengers travelling on the Liverpool Lime Street service to Norwich, via Nottingham, would have to complete some of the journey by replacement buses between Sheffield and Stockport.

The major elements of track work for the Bamford loop were carried out in December

Dave Meredith, EMR's customer services director, said: "We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused while these vital improvements take place.

"We urge all customers to plan ahead and check their journey details before setting off.

"Your patience and understanding are greatly appreciated as we work towards a better, more efficient railway network for everyone."

The ongoing £137m project has seen 850m (2,789ft) of new track laid to form a passing loop between Bamford and Hathersage stations.

It aims to relieve a long-standing bottleneck and cut journey times between Sheffield and Manchester.