The first weekend of major rail works which will result in no services running between East Anglia and London Liverpool Street are due to begin today.

The main line is set to be closed between Manningtree and Shenfield each weekend until March 22, although Abellio Great Anglia is set to run a planned bus service for passengers.

It is part of a £15million project to improve the Norwich to London Liverpool Street. New track will be installed in the Colchester, Marks Tey and Witham areas and overhead wires will be replaced at Chelmsford.

Speaking last week ahead of the planned work, officials from Network Rail insisted that “robust preparations” were being made to make sure work was completed on time every weekend and that there were no delays for Monday morning passengers.

Network Rail has come under fire in recent months, particularly when over-running engineering works have led to major delays and cancellations for rush-hour commuters trying to get to London.

A spokesman added: “We take the potential of any issues seriously and 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.”

As part of the work there will be replacement bus services between Ipswich, Manningtree, Colchester Town, Colchester and Billericay, including the Braintree and Sudbury branches.

Jamie Burles, Managing Director, Abellio Greater Anglia said: “Although there is never a good time for such engineering works, this investment by Network Rail will help in our joint objective to deliver more consistent train service performance on our mainline. We will be doing all we can to minimise inconvenience to passengers during the course of these works.”

For more information, visit abelliogreateranglia.co.uk/alterations