By Oscar Woods 
Britain’s busiest train station faces a month of weekend closures as Network Rail carries out major engineering work across multiple routes serving the City of London hub.
Table of Contents
Five Days of Full Station Closures Planned
London Liverpool Street station will shut its doors completely on five days throughout March, affecting thousands of commuters who rely on services from Essex, Hertfordshire, and East Anglia. The mainline station and its concourse will close on March 15, 21, 22, 28, and 29, forcing passengers to find alternative routes into central London.
Network Rail confirmed that all services will be affected during these closures, including Greater Anglia, Stansted Express, c2c, the Elizabeth line, and London Overground routes. The work marks one of the most extensive maintenance programmes at the station in recent years.
Katie Frost, Network Rail’s route director for Anglia, acknowledged the inconvenience. She explained that the railway closure enables vital work to proceed safely while maximizing the time available for extensive renewals, repairs, and surveys on heavily used routes.
Engineering Work Details
The programme includes several components aimed at improving infrastructure reliability and passenger capacity. Workers will renew roof drainage systems at Liverpool Street, replace track sections near Ilford station and Gidea Park, and inspect structural elements including walls, tunnels, and brickwork.
Additional work covers overhead line maintenance, vegetation management along railway corridors, and general infrastructure upkeep. These projects target the congested routes that handle 98 million passenger entries and exits annually, making Liverpool Street the nation’s busiest railway station for the third consecutive year.
Martin Beable, managing director for Greater Anglia, stated that these projects will help maintain very busy network sections, supporting high standards of punctuality and reliability that passengers expect.
Service Alterations and Alternative Routes
On March 15, Liverpool Street will be completely closed to all services. Trains from Cambridge, Bishop’s Stortford, Hertford East, and Stansted Airport will terminate at Stratford instead of continuing to Liverpool Street. Passengers will need to use London Underground Central line services to complete their journey between Stratford and Liverpool Street.
The Elizabeth line will also see restrictions, with services not running beyond Stratford on affected weekends. Between March 21 and 22, additional closures will impact services between Stratford and Shenfield, requiring passengers to use replacement bus services.
London Overground’s Weaver line will not operate between Liverpool Street and Enfield Town, Cheshunt, or Chingford during the closure periods. Services will run only as far as London Fields, a smaller station with limited facilities.
Greater Anglia has arranged for tickets to be accepted on alternative services, including Great Northern routes between London Kings Cross and Cambridge, Thameslink services, and London Underground connections.
Earlier Disruption Also Expected
The work programme extends beyond the five major closure days. Additional restrictions will affect services on March 7 and 8, when trains between London and Ingatestone will be replaced by buses connecting to Newbury Park.
The Elizabeth line will not operate between Stratford and Shenfield on these dates either, with rail replacement buses serving the affected route sections. The London Overground Liberty line will also close between Romford and Upminster during this period.
Station’s Growing Passenger Numbers
The timing of these closures comes as Liverpool Street continues to handle record passenger volumes. Official data from the Office of Rail and Road showed 98 million entries and exits between April 2024 and March 2025, representing a 3.7 percent increase from the previous year.
The station’s popularity surged following the opening of the Elizabeth line’s central section in May 2022, transforming travel patterns across London. Six of the ten busiest railway flows in Britain now involve Elizabeth line stations, with the route between Liverpool Street and Tottenham Court Road recording 8.7 million journeys annually.
This growth in passenger numbers underscores the importance of the infrastructure work, as forecasts predict annual footfall could reach 158 million by 2041. The station already operates well above its original design capacity from its last major redevelopment in 1991.
Long Term Transformation Plans
The March closures form part of broader improvement efforts at Liverpool Street. The City of London Corporation recently approved a major redevelopment scheme that will increase concourse capacity by 76 percent and add full step-free access to all platforms for the first time.
Plans include replacing the current single four-person lift with eight new large lifts and increasing escalators from four to ten. The Victorian trainshed, a key heritage feature, will remain untouched while new designs open up clearer views of the historic structure.
Ellie Burrows, managing director for Network Rail’s Eastern region, described the approval as marking an exciting new chapter for the station, improving the everyday experience for passengers while respecting its unique heritage.
Impact on Regular Travellers
Essex commuters, particularly those from Colchester, Chelmsford, Clacton, and Southend, will face the most significant disruption. These passengers typically rely on direct services into Liverpool Street and may need to divert through Stratford or use alternative underground routes during the closures.
Local councillor Venessa Moffat, representing Mile End ward near Colchester station, acknowledged residents’ concerns. While recognizing that essential upgrades are needed, she emphasized the importance of providing passengers with clear information and reliable alternatives.
Trish Ashton, Transport for London’s director of rail, apologized for any disruption caused by the weekend engineering work affecting London Overground and Elizabeth line services throughout March.
Planning Your Journey
Passengers planning to travel on affected weekends should check their specific routes well in advance. Greater Anglia, Transport for London, and c2c have all updated their journey planning tools with detailed information about service alterations.
Rail replacement buses will operate on affected routes, though journey times will be longer than normal train services. The works are scheduled for weekends to minimize impact on weekday commuters, but weekend travelers should allow extra time and expect crowding on alternative services.
For those with mobility requirements, the temporary closure of Liverpool Street means limited step-free access options. London Fields, where some London Overground services will terminate, does not have step-free access to platforms.
Network Rail emphasized that the work must be completed while trains are not running to ensure staff safety. The organization is maximizing the time available during each closure to complete as much work as possible, reducing the need for future disruptions.