Passengers travelling on the railway connecting London with Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk have been thanked for their patience over the Christmas and New Year period after Network Rail engineers successfully completed a major programme of improvements to provide better, more reliable services across the region.

Over the festive period, more than 11km of new overhead lines were installed between Ilford and Shenfield to improve reliability.

Network Rail also continued to upgrade the railway between Forest Gate and Shenfield in preparation for Crossrail, which will transform services between London and Shenfield with new trains and more frequent services from 2017.

Richard Schofield, Network Rail route managing director, said: “Over the Christmas and New Year period, our orange army worked round the clock to deliver crucial parts of our Railway Upgrade Plan which will mean better, more reliable journeys for people travelling between London, Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk.

“Our work to improve the railway doesn’t stop, and while we mostly work at night, big upgrades like the ones we’ve successfully completed this Christmas can only be carried out over a longer period of time. I’d like to thank passengers for their patience and understanding while we worked to improve their railway.”

Andrew Goodrum, Customer Service Director for Abellio Greater Anglia, said: “We are grateful to customers for their patience and understanding while these important works were carried out. The improvements will help to deliver a better and more reliable service.”