Commuters and shoppers will face more than a week of disruption when one of the county's busiest stretches of railway line is closed from Saturday.All trains between Norwich and Lowestoft will be replaced by buses from this Saturday until Sunday, October 26 while £1.

Commuters and shoppers will face more than a week of disruption when one of the county's busiest stretches of railway line is closed from Saturday.

All trains between Norwich and Lowestoft will be replaced by buses from this Saturday until Sunday, October 26 while £1.5m improvement works are carried out at various points along the line.

The services, which stop at Oulton Broad, Somerleyton, Haddisoe, Reedham, Cantley, Brundall Gardens and Brundall, will be disrupted by the works and journeys are expected to take about 15 minutes longer than usual.

The work, which is being carried out by Network Rail, will include engineering upgrades on the infrastructure from Brundall to both Lowestoft and Yarmouth.

Sections of track will be renewed at Reedham and signalling will be improved. At the same time, repairs are going to be made to the swing bridges at Somerleyton and Reedham to ensure they can be used safely for years to come.

A spokesman for Network Rail said: “The work will lead to better route quality and better service reliability for passengers, and we apologise for any inconvenience caused while the work is under way.

“From our point of view, we hope this demonstrates the investment Network Rail is making in upgrading the services and infrastructure in this region. It is a short-term pain for a long-term gain.”

A spokesman for train operator National Express East Anglia said that all Lowestoft to Norwich services will be replaced by buses, and all Norwich to Yarmouth trains will run via Acle.

Buses will also be in place to take passengers between Reedham and Oulton Broad North, which will go via both Yarmouth and Lowestoft.

The line closure is likely to add to the traffic problems which have been seen on the east coast this week, with resurfacing works under way on the Haven Bridge in Yarmouth causing long queues

at rush hour for motorists travelling between Norwich and Lowestoft.

A train passenger who commutes from Cantley to Lowestoft and who did not want to be named said: “The timing just couldn't be worse. They know full well that commuters are facing horrendous delays on the roads around Yarmouth at the moment because of the resurfacing work, so why couldn't they wait a few weeks and encourage drivers to use the train?

“This engineering work could

be done at any time, but they clearly couldn't care less about passengers and a real opportunity to get people out of their cars has been missed by this empty-headed decision.”

Customers are advised to check for further details of alternative services by calling National Rail Enquiries on 08457 484950, National Express East Anglia customer services on 0845 600 7245 or by asking at their local station.