COMMUTERS will face disruption at Pitsea this Easter holiday.

Track engineering work will take place at Pitsea Station this weekend to replace a junction, with service returning back to normal by Tuesday.

Buses will be laid on to ferry residents from Pitsea to Basildon and Stanford-Le-Hope as the section of the track at Pitsea is closed off.

The aim of the project is to double the line-speed at that section of the track from 25mph to 50mph, and reduce the number of days that the section of track needs to be closed for engineering work each year by 75 per cent.

Engineers from Network Rail will be working more than 4,500 hours collectively during the Easter weekend to make sure it is finished with minimum disruption to passengers.

Richard Schofield, Network Rail Anglia Route Managing Director, said: “We are continuing to deliver a more reliable railway for passengers travelling in Anglia.

“There is never a good time to close this part of the railway but this work is essential to improve train services for the millions of passengers who travel on this route every year.

“Fewer people travel at this time to allow for the work to be completed.”

During the engineering work, c2c is running replacement buses between Benfleet to Basildon and Stanford-le-Hope.

There will also be direct buses from Canvey Island to Basildon to save residents travelling to Benfleet Station first, and a bus calling at Pitsea and Stanford-le-Hope.

The rest of the line will be running as usual.

c2c managing director Julian Drury said: “Thank you to our passengers for bearing with us during this engineering project.

“With over 90,000 passengers using c2c every weekday, it’s definitely best that we take advantage of the long weekend to get so much work done.

“This project will be our focus while most of our customers are on their weekend break, so we can ensure the railway is ready to return to action on Tuesday morning.”

Echo: Pitsea junction track

The three month project, that began Sunday March 2, will also replace 1,500 concrete sleepers.

Works will continue every weekend until May 18.