Town fans are facing more rail woe with the line between London and Ipswich closed for eight weekends from Saturday 17th September.

Engineering work means that, with the exception of some Saturday mornings, rail travellers will be forced to take buses from Witham to Newbury Park Tube station.

There will also be further disruption for 10 days over the Christmas and New Year period, the line having previously been closed at weekends between January and March.

Richard Schofield, Network Rail’s route managing director for Anglia, said: “This autumn and winter will see some of the biggest and most crucial changes on this route in years, helping improve passenger and freight services for everyone in the region.

"“Our Railway Upgrade Plan is vital in helping deliver the new trains as part of the Crossrail construction project in 2017, and removing a long and painful speed restriction which will no longer delay trains in the heat of summer.

“While I understand the inconvenience and disruption that closing the railway causes, the initial and long-term benefits for passengers are huge and we cannot postpone the opportunity to provide a bigger and better railway for the people of East Anglia and London.

“I’d like to thank passengers for their understanding while we carry out the work and my advice is to check how their journeys will be affected before they travel so they can plan ahead.”

Jamie Burles, Abellio Greater Anglia’s managing director, added: “We understand the significant impact engineering works has on our customers’ journeys and we thank them for their patience and understanding.

"“We are working very hard to provide practical and comfortable rail replacement alternatives for people wanting to travel during these times.

"“Due to the complex nature of the works we would recommend that customers check their itinerary before travelling as arrangements may differ over the course of the works.”

Meanwhile, Abellio Greater Anglia are offering fans cheaper rail tickets for Town’s home games this season, including a train season ticket 50 per cent cheaper than 23 off-peak day return fares.

Photo: Action Images

cats_whiskers added 14:52 - Jul 18 Nothing seems to be "On track" regarding Ipswich It's enough to send anyone off the rails
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linhdi added 15:33 - Jul 18 The rail "season ticket" is less than good value once you work out how many games there actually are any trains. Presumably the widweek evening engineering works will continue for much of the season too.
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12th_Man added 15:56 - Jul 18 I'm so glad I live in ipswich no worries for me good luck everyone else
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sidtheswan added 16:34 - Jul 18 Believe me Network Rail truly do not give a monkeys about any events or any persons difficulties . Greater Anglia offer some good deals for events and then you think about going and find out that you will have to go by replacement bus. Latitude finished yesterday just as engineering works started . We are not Network Rails customers Greater Anglia are and they have to take all the flack for them. Half the fun on away games is travelling with your mates on the inter city with a couple of cans for lubrication. It's not the same when you go to away games in London and it takes twice as long to just get to London and you spend up to an hour on a bus ! Network Rail are a rubbish company who need nationalising !

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NoCanariesAllowed added 16:44 - Jul 18 So from where I live, that's a train to London for an hour and a half, another hour and a half of faffing around getting across London to Newbury Park and waiting for a connection, nearly an hour on a bus from Newbury Park to Witham, then 40 minutes on a train from Witham to Ipswich. I'd potentially have to leave the house before 9am to get to a 3pm kickoff... Oh, and the same on the way back of course. More than four hours, for £79.20. If I drive, I can do it in about two-and-a-half hours on half a tank of fuel. So say, £20, maybe? ... Excuse me, Network Rail, but where the hell is the incentive to pay nearly £80 for what you're offering over that eight week period? I fear for those living some distance from PR as I do who don't have driving as an alternative. Seems we get messed about like this for a couple of months every season now.

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Seasider added 16:49 - Jul 18 sidtheswan.Think you will find that they are effectively nationalised.I know it is a dirty word to this right wing Tory Government;but if I recall the private company that used to run it,took money out for their shareholders etc,and let the infrastructure deteriorate resulting in crashes and loss of life. This was some considerable time ago;but there was a lot of work that had been neglected which had to be done,as well as the ongoing maintenance,and now the work around Stratford to do with Crossrail. From past statements Network Rail feel it is best to do this work at a time which will not interrupt travel during the normal working week.

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PortmanTerrorist added 17:33 - Jul 18 Had a POINT , lost my TRAIN of thought, but now back on TRACK ! Bin the trains and put on more Sailing Smacks. Park and Float ! Tis the future.....in Suffolk anyway.
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Dolly2.0 added 21:18 - Jul 18 They don't half come out with some bull, don't they? They've been doing these fantastic 'upgrades' for about 30 years. If you're putting on buses instead of trains you should be charging bus prices. At the end of the day, they know they have the monopoly so they do what they damn well please. They don't give a flying one about the customer. The only ray of light is they're not quite as bad as Southern.

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exeterblue10 added 21:22 - Jul 18 So despite all the cost involved we have to put up with some second rate coach? Oh hang on... (Sorry Mick, only joking, love you really)
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Mr_Evans added 05:55 - Jul 19 Rather the blaming the train company or Network Rail we should blame the Tories for privatising the railways and allowing it to go under invested for decades. We invented the rail system yet we're now miles behind compared to the rest of Europe.
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 17:48 - Jul 19 Traveling often by train from Sweden, I would say: trains in Denmark = excellent; Germany= very good; The Netherlands= excellent; UK very average by comparison, although Harwich - Ipswich usually gets you to the match on time.
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