UPDATE: Tuesday, February 27

These will be the last trains running tonight:

8.15pm - Colchester to London Liverpool Street

8.30pm - London Liverpool Street to Norwich (also last train to Ipswich)

8.30pm - Norwich to London Liverpool Street (last train from Ipswich 21:09)

9.01pm - Marks Tey to Sudbury 

9.05pm - Colchester to Clacton

9.05pm - Clacton to Colchester

9.26pm - Sudbury to Marks Tey

9.35pm - Witham to Braintree

9.37pm - Thorpe-le-Soken to Walton-on-the-Naze

9.38pm - London Liverpool Street to Colchester

10pm - Manningtree to Harwich Town

10pm - Braintree to Witham

10pm - Walton-on-the-Naze to Thorpe-le-Soken

10.30pm - Harwich Town to Manningtree

Monday, February 26

ONLY key train services will run if two days of heavy snow and extreme weather conditions forecast for the region materialise.

Network Rail and Greater Anglia have been liaising with weather forecasters to draw up contingency plans for the forecast spell of extreme weather.

The Met Desk has warned of up to 30 centimetres of snow to fall during heavy snow showers overnight from today to Tuesday, and on Wednesday and subsequent days when temperatures will rarely get above freezing so snow will not melt, and there is a risk of snow drifts.

As a result of extreme conditions forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday, Network Rail is concentrating on keeping main routes operating.

Other routes will run with a reduced service in place.

Services tonight will end at 10pm to enable trains to return to depots and stations before the forecast snow storms start.

Some empty trains will run throughout the night to keep lines clear of snow for the morning commute.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the reduced service will operate only between 6am and 10pm.

If the weather is not as extreme as forecast, Greater Anglia and Network Rail will work hard to reinstate services and reopen lines as soon as possible.

No service (There will be no rail replacement bus service on these routes either): 

  • Norwich to Sheringham, Great Yarmouth, Lowestoft
  • Ipswich to Felixstowe and Lowestoft
  • Colchester to Colchester Town
  • Stratford to Tottenham Hale

Shuttle service only

  • Braintree to Witham
  • Harwich to Manningtree
  • Thorpe-le- Soken to Walton-on-the-Naze and Clacton
  • Hertford East to Broxbourne
  • Colchester to Clacton
  • Southminster to Wickford
  • Marks Tey to Sudbury

Running but less frequent/slower service

  • Norwich to London
  • Norwich to Cambridge
  • Ipswich to Cambridge
  • Ipswich to Peterborough
  • Ipswich and Colchester to London
  • Southend to London
  • Cambridge to London
  • Stansted Airport to London, will run a reduced service from 6am to 10pm on Tuesday and Wednesday, with all services finishing by 10pm tonight.

Richard Dean, Greater Anglia train service delivery director said: “We apologise for the inconvenience that this reduced service causes customers.

“The last time such heavy snow fell in this region was over 25 years ago.

"In extreme conditions such as these, we work hard with Network Rail to keep key routes open, using snow ploughs, points heaters and mobilising all staff to clear snow off platforms and heat up and de-ice trains.

“Volumes of traffic on some routes keep snow from settling too deep, like on roads, but not on rural routes."